Knights of Remnant: The Ring of Darkness
by Nickshepard
Summary: It's been 2 years since the "Reclamation of Vale", but not all is at peace. After the battle for Vale, tensions between the kingdoms only grew, and the divide between Humans and Faunus only got bigger. There is a darkness rising in the land of Mordor, and Remnant is on the brink of a another Great War. And the only hope the world has left lies in eight brave hunters.
1. (Prologue) A Dark Beginning

**Knights of Remnant: The Ring of Shadows**

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 **Prologue/A Dark Beginning**

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 **AN: Welcome everyone!**

 **Hello those who are reading this for the first time.**

 **And welcome back, any and all who have read my previous story and liked it.**

 **This is the continuation of the "Rise of a Star Knight". And like the Lord of the Rings, there was a dark past to the world of Remnant. And here is where this part of the story begins.**

 **Credit to my beta-readers/partners in this grand story: "Nightengale4698" and "Breakawayfan"**

 ** _Disclaimer_ : I do not own RWBY or Lord of the Rings; both universes belong to their _HIGHLY_ respected owners.**

 **Also for this chapter only "** _this_ **" means someone is narrating a story.**

 **Enjoy.**

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 _For so long I have lived in this world. I imagine six centuries of living is a long time for anyone, no matter what they are. I have seen kingdoms rise and empires fall, and even throughout all of the horror and darkness Humanity has faced, they still stand strong._

 _I think that's what annoyed_ _ **her**_ _the most… Apologies, I am getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning._

 _As most of Remnant's history goes, out of all the kingdoms and empires that rose and fell to Grimm, there were four that survived to this day. That, however, is not entirely true. There were five._

 **Vale** _,_ **Vacuo** _,_ **Mistral** _,_ **Mantle** _, now known as_ **Atlas** _, and_ **Mordor** _._

 _Like any other kingdom,_ **Mordor** _had a king. Once known as the prince of darkness, the_ **Dark Lord Sauron** _stood tall and proud. And like any great lord, he bore children to carry on line: two daughters, one born of darkness, and the other of light._

 _The mother of his children was a Faunus woman. She was beautiful and powerful. Despite his darkness, she brought out a bright side of him that no one in this world has seen._

 _With his hatred for humanity,_ **Sauron** _ensured that his kingdom's people were completely Faunus. For centuries he lied to his citizens that humanity was a bloodthirsty, war-like species that had no place in their kingdom._

 _What nobody knew at the time,_ **Sauron** _himself created the Grimm from the very beginning, and intended them to be a means to destroy all of Humanity off the face of Remnant. He knew the process would take millennia, but he felt that the wait was worth the effort. Unfortunately for him, his time ended with old age, and his eldest daughter_ **Salem** _took his place._

 _While it was unclear what_ **Sauron** _was; he had a particularly long life span, reaching almost 30,000 years; if not longer, making him seem godlike to his kingdom's people. His children also shared his long life, as well as some of his power._

 _After_ **Sauron's** _passing, his daughter, Salem, saw that humanity was still standing strong against the Grimm, with the help of the Seasonal Maidens, Star Knights and other Faunus in the world where not born in their kingdom. Seeing that humanity outlasted her father, Salem felt insulted and disgusted._

 _With no hostility towards_ **Mordor** _by the others,_ **Salem** _believed there might be a way to speed along the destruction of humanity._

 _She began with the forging of the stones and rings she made from the rich raw materials of_ **Mt. Doom.** _She forged many beautiful rings and brightly colored stones. The_ **Arkenstone** _was one of them._

 _The amount of energy she used to create the stones and rings was equal to that of a solar flare. While the items had great power within them, they were also cursed. If anyone were to touch them, they would succumb to their darkest sin._

 **Salem's** _plan was to give each leader of the kingdoms one of these great objects and trick them into going to war against each other._

 _Her plan worked in the beginning. The first kingdom to receive her 'gift' was Vale. The king of the land received the Arkenstone and was slowly driven mad. He saw enemies around him and felt that a war was brewing, even through there really wasn't one coming at all._

 _The Mad King started what the people of Remnant call "The Great War." Nobody saw his madness at first. For almost 2 years, the four kingdoms were divided in two;_ **Vale** _and_ **Vacuo** _against_ **Mantle** _and_ **Mistral** _._

 _The Maidens themselves stayed out of the war all together. The Star Knights knew in their hearts that this war was wrong; there were two instances where two knights of opposite kingdoms would face one another but did nothing. They simply walked in the opposite direction._

 _A day came when one of the Star Knights, The Star Knight of Vale, discovered that her king was not acting as he used to. She could see the paranoia and blood lust within his eyes._

 _When_ **Joan Arc** _confronted her king of his madness he immediately slandered her name, without hesitation, and dubbed her a "usurper." For the King, labeling his greatest champion and sister a "usurper" revealed his madness to even his subjects and generals. With great rage flowing through him, the king forbade_ **Joan** _and the rest of her blood line from ever attaining the throne of Vale._

 _Although most would have ignored such order,_ **Joan** _, and all those who would come after her, was obligated to follow the "Last King's" order. Their family swore to follow whatever order the current ruler gave them, even if the word was to a madman. For an Arc never goes back on their word._

 _It was at that very moment that the entire kingdom moved to dethrone the King. As was expected of her for being the protector of the kingdom,_ **Joan** _was forced to exile her own brother. After he was banished, Joan discovered that the great 'gift' from the mysterious queen of the_ **Dark Continent** _was the cause of his madness._

 _Before a great battle over the island of_ **Vytal** _could begin,_ **Joan** _ordered her fleet stand down and surrender to the Star Knights of_ **Mantle** _and_ **Mistral** _,_ **Isildur Numenor** _and_ **Themistocles Nikos** _._

 **Themistocles** _knew_ **Joan** _for a long time, and knew that she would never resort to using surrender as a means of trapping her enemy. They spoke and were shocked by her warnings._

 **Joan** _revealed to the other Knights that all the other kingdoms' rulers are at risk to the same madness that corrupted her king. The other rulers were saved from suffering the same fate, and moved for peace between the kingdoms._

 _With her first phase of her plan broken,_ **Salem** _moved forward with her next step regardless. The dark queen unleashed a dark horror unto the kingdoms. While the armies of Grimm were already attacking the kingdoms of man long before, a new enemy also accompanied them to the world of Man: grotesque and dark creatures. Their skin was pale as corpses; they had fangs like animals; and the darkness in their eyes were the one characteristic that most people could never forget. Their bodies were similar to that of humans, but their minds were that of savages. They knew how to adapt to their surroundings. The more they fought against the humans, the more they learned from them. They called themselves ' **Orcs** ' and they shared no remorse as they brutalized and butchered village after village of every kingdom._

 _As all the kingdoms licked their wounds over their war amongst themselves, they quickly found themselves under siege by the Orcs for almost 10 years, and so began the second half of the_ **Great War** _._

 **Mantle** _and_ **Vale** _received the full blunt of the invading Orc armies. They were the strongest of the four kingdoms, but their enemy was brutal._

 **Vacuo** _still hadn't fully recovered from the_ **Spring Harpy's** _plague of its trees and the sudden increase in desert regions. Including their losses they suffered when the war started, they would have been the first kingdom to fall._

 **Mistral** _itself never got the full blunt the invasion. Their continent was too far away from_ **Mordor** _for the invaders to arrive the same time as the others. The Orc armies did not arrive at Mistral until 4 months after the Great War started._

 **Mantle** _almost seemed like it was going to fall within the decade of the war because of the massive infestation of flying Grimm, but when it was almost undeniable that they'd lose, their Star Knight pushed back the Orcs and Grimm in one great battle._

 **Isildur** _was later named the '_ **Angel-Knight** _' after the battle. He used his light semblance to form wings and was able to completely destroy the enemy's air force within a week, allowing Atlas' troops to push back the invaders completely within two months._

 **Vale** _did its best against the invaders, but their land was being taken village by village. It wasn't until the arrival of a new ally that Vale found hope. The large trees that once surrounded their villages unbound themselves of the ground and attacked the armies of darkness. The trees themselves came to life; they could speak like men, and could fight like giants. They were known as the Ents, and with their help,_ **Vale** _survived._

 _The_ **Star Knight of Vacuo** _,_ **Henry Smith** _, did what he could for his kingdom, but was too overwhelmed. He repeatedly asked Joan to send help, but she had none to spare._

 _After_ **Mistral** _was able to successfully defeat the Grimm and Orc invaders, they prepared to take the fight to the enemy. Before they could ship out,_ **Joan Arc** _requested the great king_ **Leonidas Nikos** _to aid Vacuo. Vale was stretched too thin to aid them, so she begged the king to help._

 _The_ **King Leonidas** _respected the knight as much as his brother,_ **Themistocles** _, did; so he accepted her request to aid Vacuo. The King ordered his men to aid the Vacuo defenders while their civilians were escaping._

 _After three days of defending against nonstop attacks by both Grimm and Orcs, the king lost his life defending the last village as its people escaped._

 **Themistocles** _ordered the fleets of_ **Mistral** _to defend the shores of all the other kingdoms, providing_ **Atlas** _and_ **Vale** _a chance to catch their breath._

 _With_ **Vale** _and_ **Atlas** _secure and their enemies currently in retreat on all but Vacuo's theater of war,_ **Joan** _called for a meeting with_ **Isildur** _,_ **Themistocles** _, and_ **Henry** _on the island of_ **Vytal** _, and made them an offer they could not refuse._

 _All four kingdoms would form what would be known as the "_ **Last Alliance** _", for it was the last alliance any kingdoms ever made before the end of the Great War._

 _While the Sky knights of Vale, Mantel, Vacuo and Mistral all converged on Mordor, any and all militaries of all their kingdoms stayed behind to protect them in the event if they were to fail._

 _Themistocles commanded the fleet and broke the blockade around the_ **Dark Continent** _, allowing Vale and Atlas troops to make landfall on Mordor._

 _All four Star Knights and their armies laid siege to Mordor, all the way to the roots of Mt. Doom._

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The Sky Knight armies of Mantle, Vale and Mistral marched together against the armies of Salem.

The Mistral knights primarily had large bronze shields, spears, and short swords. Some had some projectile weapons like 45 Colt pistols and Springfield M1903 sniper rifles. The tanks they brought with them were Cromwell tanks.

Vale knights had broadswords, short swords and kite shields for melee weapons. Their long range weapons of choice were M1 Garand and Thomson SMGs. The tanks they brought with them were M4 Sherman tanks.

Vacuo knights had halberds and scimitar swords. Their long-range weapons of choice were M1917 Enfield and Winchester 1897s. The tanks they brought with them were T34 tanks.

Mantle (Atlas) knights had bastard swords and war hammers for their melee weapons. Being the most advanced when it came to handheld projectile weapons, they had M2 Carbines and PPSh-41s. The tanks they brought with them were Tiger 1 tanks.

 **(AN: The layout of the armies is just for this battle, they obviously had more weapons to work with than that in a war of that scale, but this is all they brought with them to this fight.)**

As the Orc and Grimm charged at the armies of men, the Mistral knights formed a phalanx in front of the vanguard. The Orcs and Grimm clashed with the phalanx, pushing the front line back a few feet, then spears and rifles poked out from between the shields and hit their targets; spears stabbing the heads of Grimm, bullets hitting their mark on enemy troops.

The men holding the phalanx pushed the enemies back, they lowered their shields, revealing mounted machine guns that were waiting for their turn to fire. They unleashed a hailstorm of bullets on the Grimm and Orcs alike, blasting them to pieces. Then the phalanx would raise their shields and block the next wave of enemies.

While the troops held vanguard, their tanks unleashed a constant barrage along the slopes of Mt Doom to thin out the enemy force against the front line. This also gave openings for troops to push inwards and shatter the enemy's frontal charge.

This pattern would continue for what felt like hours. They pushed their enemy back all the way to the slopes of Mt. Doom. It was there where the armies of men broke ranks and attacked every enemy in sight.

 _Victory seemed to be within their grasp, but even that was not enough to defeat the queen herself._

Salem stood before the armies of man, and she looked disappointed. She pulled out a sword from beneath her kimono and swung it at the soldiers. Every soldier her blade touched was either blasted to pieces or was burned to ashes.

The armies of Sky Knights backed off from Salem, allowing their Star Knights to see their enemy.

Henry and Themistocles charged in full force, swinging their swords at Salem with all their might. Salem first blocked Themistocles' sword with ease and moved it to block Henry's. She then swung her sword in an attempt to stab Themistocles while he was off balance.

Joan blocked Salem's blade with her shield, allowing Themistocles an opening to kick Salem in the chest. His kick did nothing but push himself away from her a few feet.

Salem then swatted them both, sending them into the ground, making a small crater.

Henry managed to evade Salem's hand and charged at her with his sword. He swung hard and chipped her left shoulder plate. Salem retaliated with a quick swing of her sword, which Henry quickly blocked in time before it could hit him. But the impact from the two blades knocked him off his feet and sent him back a few feet.

Isildur raised his sword, and charged at the Dark Queen. They clashed blades repeatedly; Isildur energized his blade in an attempt to break Salem's but her own sword proved to be just as powerful, despite it being made of pure dark magic.

Joan, Henry and Themistocles took the opportunity to attack Salem in three directions. Salem turned their attack against them as she spun in a tornado of shadows, engulfing all three of them. She spun them around, and threw them into the ground hard.

Isildur was the first to stand back up; his aura's light formed around his body and then formed wings on his back. The light on his body was pure white, while the wings on his back gave off a golden glow. He picked up his sword and stood in an Ochs stance.

Salem reformed her sword and stood there, waiting for him to make his next move.

Isildur advanced, using his wings to move him forward at incredible speed, and clashed blades with the witch. He swung for her head, she blocked. She swung for his body, he dodged. They almost looked evenly matched, until she unleashed a massive blast of dark magic and knocked him off his feet.

Isildur lost his sword when he fell, landing almost a mile away from where he was launched. When he looked up he quickly found himself in the path of a shadow blade. He moved out of the way of Salem's sword as she tried to stab him while he was on the ground. She repeatedly plunged her sword into the ground, trying to stab him. Isildur had no time to get back up, only to roll over and away from any sword stroke Salem through at him. Just when she had him cornered, Joan and Henry both jumped in and blocked Salem's blade their own.

The two were both pushing as hard as they physically could, but it came to no avail, Salem was too strong. Even with their aura's being poured into their limbs and muscles; they were both being overpowered by the Dark Queen.

At the same time, Themistocles tried to stab Salem in the back, but was blasted in the face by a shadow that originated form Salem's kimono.

Salem pushed down on Joan and Henry with ease. "Isildur, if you're going to do something, do it NOW!" Joan shouted as she felt her strength, and Henry's fail them both. Isildur saw that as Salem was pushing her sword down on them, her ring was glowing.

 _That could be the source of her power!_ the knight thought. He quickly rolled out from behind Joan. There he spread his wings, and flew as fast as he could to his sword.

Salem saw Isildur leap out from behind Joan; first she removed her sword form Joan's shield, then she blasted Joan with the same kind of shadows she hit Themistocles with, and then flew straight for Isildur.

Isildur grabbed the sword and spun around to Salem, right when she was about to swing her blade downward to slice him in half. Isildur swung his blade and cut her right arm off.

The moment the blade cut through her wrist, it shattered like glass, leaving behind a short broken blade and its gold hilt.

Salem's eyes grew wide as she saw her hand fly from her arm. She was about to reach for it on the ground, but was stopped when Isildur stabbed her through the chest with what remained of his sword.

The broken blade stabbed Salem through her heart, her eyes widened like saucers as she felt the blade rip apart her insides. She backed away from him, removing the sword form her chest in the process. Then her body began to glow in a pure white light, her eyes started to shine, her mouth shined as she screamed. And in an instant, a massive blast of pure white light and a shockwave strong enough to knock every single soldier, Orc and Grimm on their back.

 _Salem, the last queen of darkness on Remnant, was defeated._

 _But what nobody knew at the time; days before the Alliance reached Mt. Doom, Salem saw that her defeat was close, so she made a plan. She took the_ **Ring** _, the last and most powerful gift her father gave her before his passing, and re-forged it in her own way. This time, she made it to be her_ **'Horcrux'** _, that way, when she was defeated, she would return again when the time was right._

 _That day, Isildur had the chance to destroy the ring, but couldn't. For in the creation of this_ **Horcrux** _,_ **Salem** _placed upon the ring a terrible curse. Much like the stones and rings she made before, any whom touch this ring will fall under its influence and lose their minds to darkness._

 **Isildur** _kept the_ **Ring** _, believing that he could conquer its magic and use it to strengthen the kingdom of_ **Mantel** _. But the_ **Ring** _itself has a will of its own. It used Isildur for a time, and it caused the fall of_ **Mantle** _, which gave rise to the kingdom of_ **Atlas** _that we see today._

Isildur and a small army of knights and troopers came under attack by Grimm, more specifically very large and monstrous Grimm. Isildur knew right away that they were outnumbered and would be overwhelmed in minutes.

He removed the ring from his neck and put it on, making himself vanish in the middle of the battle.

He ran as fast as he could, dodging Grimm as he ran and jumped into the river that ran alongside the road he was on. When he dove into the water, the ring grew, forcing itself out of his hand. When he realized it was gone, he tried to reach for it, but was quickly stopped by the feeling of being impaled from behind.

Above the water, a large Deathstalker stabbed him and killing him instantly. With its stinger impaling him, the scorpion retracted its tail and pulled Isildur's body back out of the water.

 _The_ **Ring** _betrayed_ **Isildur** _to his death._

* * *

 _And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. For two generations, the kingdoms grew… they lived… and they forgot. Believing that the war was over the day she was slain, humanity decided to forget Salem all together. The search for the_ **Ring** _was ended after the passing of the last Star Knight from the "_ **Last Alliance** _"._

 _Then a day came when a new being found the_ **Ring** _. The creature_ **Gollum** _found the_ **Ring** _, and took it to the mountain borders of the kingdom of_ **Vale** _._ **Gollum** _kept it hidden deep within the mountains, out of the sun, out of sight. And there it consumed him._

 _The_ **Ring** _had a very lasting effect on_ **Gollum** _, altering him, changing his body into a grotesque form._

 _As the years went on, rumors started to form, whispers of a shadow growing in the_ **Dark Continent** _. And when they reached the_ **Ring** _, it knew, its time had come. It abandoned_ **Gollum** _, but something happened then the_ **Ring** _did not intend._

(Somewhere in Vale)

In one of the pits to Gollum's cave, a woman in a white hood was wandering around. She held her spear rifle close as she treaded lightly through the dark and damp cave.

As the woman walked along the cave floor, a reflective object in a puddle caught her eye. She walked over to the puddle and picked up what was beneath. It looked to be a gold band ring with a black jewel on the top. The ring looked to be no larger than 6 carats.

 _It was picked up by a huntress;_ **Summer Rose** _, from_ **Patch** _._

 _And the last thing the_ **Ring** _expected to happen did. It would appear that_ **Silver Eyed Warriors** _are immune to the dark powers that surround the_ **Ring** _._

"LOST!"

Summer looked up to one of the higher points to the cave and could hear echoing of a voice. Summer didn't feel comfortable being in such a tight space and limited visibility. She started to slowly backup towards the cave entrance.

"MY PRECIOUS IS LOST!"

The voice started to sound like it was getting closer. Normally Summer wasn't one for getting scared in the middle of a fight; but whatever was coming, it didn't sound good. Once she was near the entrance she quickly turned around and bumped face first into something big. She landed flat on her butt and looked up to see it was an old friend.

"Jonah?" Summer asked as she was rubbing her head.

"I thought we agreed not to split up in these caves?" Jonah asked as he lowered his hand for Summer to take.

"I thought I heard something in here." Summer said on her way up.

After helping her up, Jonah looked into the cave she exited, "Well, we are in the Valsan Mountains; this must be 'Gollum's cave'."

"Well, I don't know about Gollum, but I did hear something down there." Summer said as she gripped her spear tight.

"Come on, I don't think we should stay." Jonah said as he started moving towards daylight.

"Don't tell me you're getting cold feet, Arc?" Summer teased.

"Not cold feet. I just don't want to be late for this one." Jonah said as he waved off his friend.

"Oh, that's right." Summer ran up to Jonah before he reached the main exit, she tucked the ring she found deep into her pocket; "You and Kida are expecting your third. You think you'll get lucky this time?"

The outside looked to a green forest, and the time of day seemed to be dusk, with the sun falling over the horizon.

"Luck won't matter. According to Kida, she wants more than three." Jonah said as he pulled out his map, so that they could find their way back to the road.

"Geez, what if she goes for five?" Summer asked with a fearful look on her face.

"I just hope she stops before there're too many," Jonah said with a nervous smile.

"What about you, Summer? Where are you going back to this?" Jonah asked, trying not to change the subject.

Little did either of them know, but there was a small slimy and sickly green creature, watching them walk away from the cave. It creeped out of the cave and moved into the tall bushes, moving slowly and quietly.

"Well, I plan to head back to Patch. I hear Tai and Raven are having their first soon." Summer said as she hung her spear over her shoulder, "Seams like everyone we know is starting a family, even you."

Summer's smile was cut off when she heard something not too far behind them. She turned towards some of the brushes and saw some small movement. She readied her spear and walked slowly towards it.

"Rose… What do you see?" Jonah asked as she slowly drew his sword from its sheath.

Summer reached the brush and moved it with her spear, although the sun's light was still out, the shadows still made it hard to see. She kept moving until she saw the glare of green eyes. She froze instantly.

 _"Gollum."_

She knew she had the drop on him, and with Jonah behind her, they could easily kill it. But looking at the misshapen figure of this creature, she couldn't bring herself to pull the trigger. Gollum didn't move. It only stared at her, waiting for her to do something; whether out of fear or out of preparation, she couldn't say.

Summer slowly backed away, retracting her rhodium spear and backed away from the bush. She then cleared her throat. "Nothing, it was just a small animal."

"It wasn't a Grimm?" Jonah asked.

"No. It wasn't." That wasn't even a lie.

She backed away and walked towards Jonah with a calm stride, "Come on, 'daddy-oh'. You have a family to get back to."

Jonah relaxed and sheathed his sword as Summer passed him. He took one last look at the mountain and the cave entrance, and then turned back around to join her.

"You know, it's not as bad as you think… Maybe you'll get lucky and have one of your own, someday," Jonah said with a smirk.

"Hah. Maybe… but right now, I just want to stick to what we do best." Summer said as she hung her spear back over her shoulder.

The green creature watched as the two hunters walked away, " _Patch… Rose…_ " Gollum crawled back to the mountain, back to its cave, and continued to mutter the same two words.

* * *

 _With the_ **Ring's** _corrupted powers proven to be ineffective against its current owner, it did the only thing it could: it slept. Waiting until the day that its mistress returned and for it to have an opportunity to find her again._

(Patch)

Summer entered her house in Patch and walked into her room. **(The same house that we see in RWBY)**

Summer walked over to her dresser and opened a small jewelry box. She then opened a hidden compartment and placed the gold band black diamond ring inside. _"I'll look into this later. For now, Tai is going to need all the help he can get."_

* * *

 **AN: I hope you guys like my version of the story.**

 **It took a lot longer for me to write than I thought but here it is.**

 **Until next time, ARKOS!**


	2. This will be a night to remember!

**This will be a night to remember!**

* * *

 **AN: Hello everyone.**

 **I am sorry i forgot to tell everyone in the last chapter, but i have decided to post my story every other Tuesday.  
** **Due to school and work this semester, i don't have as much time to write out each chapter as i wanted, sorry.**

 **Also, there is an OC character named "Grun Grauel" who is "** Nightengale4698" **character.**  
 **Nightengale has his own story called "Broken Fang: a Second Chance" that introduces his character to my story's universe.**

 **Hope you guys like this chapter.**

 **Because this will one heck of a party!**

* * *

The broken moon hung high over a dark and scorched land, covered in black sand and razor sharp rocks. In the distance, a woman could be seen.

The skin on her face matched her hair, pail white, like Grimm bone. Her face had black roots coming up from her neck to her eyes. Her eyes… they were blood red and glowing like Grimm eyes.

She appeared to be standing over a black tar pit. She waved her hand over the pit. Once her hand was removed from it, a creature of Grimm emerged. The Grimm was 10 feet tall, and took the form of a Beringel.

As it emerged, it's didn't appear to have many armor plates. Once it crawled out, it looked down to the smaller Grimm around it, and began to consume them. For every small Grimm it consumed, its body grew and its armor formed.

Once the Grimm finishes forming new armor and strength it walks away and joins a massive Grimm hoard down in a valley. On the right side of the valley, a massive tower could be seen.

Looking back to the woman, she is looking with eyes full of intensity as she spoke, " **I can't wait to watch the world you were charged to protect burn down.** "

* * *

Jaune jolted awake, his eyes looking around the dark bedroom in all directions. Sweat trickled down his face, his skin felt cold and clammy, and his hands were shaking like an earthquake. He sat up from the bed he was laying on and tried to stand up.

Behind him, a startled Pyrrha sat up from the bed and quickly moved to his side. She grabbed him by the shoulders, keeping him on the bed, and asked, "What's wrong?"

Jaune was breathing; he quickly turned to Pyrrha as she moved to be in his sight. Jaune started to relax and breathe more calmly. "It's nothing…" Jaune turned forward and put one hand on Pyrrha's as it rested on his shoulder, "Just a bad dream. Go back to sleep." Pyrrha looked over at their nightstand and saw that their clock read 0645.

"No, it's fine," she said as she got to her feet, "I needed to wake up anyway. From what I can recall, we should be landing in Vale in just over an hour. Go ahead and take a shower. You need it more than I do right now." Jaune looked down and saw that his skin still felt wet and sticky. Taking his girlfriend's advice, Jaune got up from the bed and walked over to the shower room. After his coronation as a Star Knight, Jaune had been given a private custom-made airship, complete with his own quarters. As Jaune closed the door to the shower, Pyrrha looked out the window and sighed. She knew that Jaune was still feeling some form of pain, but it wasn't from her supposed death several years ago. That pain was gone, but something was still there. A few minutes later, Jaune stepped out of the shower room with a towel wrapped around his waist, causing Pyrrha to flush crimson when she looked over at him. Jaune recognized the look on his girlfriend's face and knew what she was staring at, but decided to play along.

"What are you looking at?" he asked with a sly grin.

"Nothing, just enjoying the show," Pyrrha replied as she stood up. Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder before she could go anywhere.

"Then why don't you go take a shower so I can enjoy my own show?" Jaune teased. He tried to lean in to kiss her, but Pyrrha brought up her finger and placed it on his lips.

"Sorry, but we're almost at the city," she said before giving a seductive wink, "But maybe when we get to the hotel." Jaune raised an eyebrow.

"Not sure if I can wait that long," he playfully retorted. Pyrrha chuckled softly as she shook her head.

"Alright, enough messing around," Pyrrha said as she took Jaune's hand off her shoulder, "Hurry and get dressed. I doubt a Star Knight can make a public appearance in just a towel." Jaune snorted a laugh as he took out his clothes and walked back into the bathroom to get dressed, Pyrrha standing by the bed and doing the same. Before long, the ship touched down in Vale and Jaune and Pyrrha disembarked.

* * *

 **(AN: Everything that happened between 'Rise of a Star Knight' to now.)**

Life in Vale quickly returned to normal after the worldly known "Battle of the Five Armies" ended. The united armies of Vale and Atlas succeeded in driving almost all the Grimm out of Vale and defeated the entire section of the White Fang that was in Vale.

With the information provided by Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black and Neapolitan, Vale authorities were able to find a sizable amount of informants and insiders in the Vale military and political parties. There was even evidence that two of Vale's council were under Cinder Fall's payroll and were partially responsible for why Vale couldn't reclaim their capitol and Beacon Academy.

With their help in providing valuable intelligence on moles and rats in Vale's government, Emerald, Mercury and Neo were all given full pardons. Jaune Arc himself signed their pardons personally, saying that they have more than earned back their freedom, and have earned a chance to start over.

After several months of recovery and incarceration, Adam Taurus confessed and exposed any and all White Fang activities in Vale that could possibly lead to retaliation. Prior to his confession, Taurus refused to answer any questions unless he spoke to Blake Belladonna.

With all this activity made public about the White Fang's movements and their involvement in both the Fall of Beacon and the Battle of the Five Armies, human-Faunus relations have plummeted. Most of the citizens of Atlas feel uneasy about their Faunus population; some of their people demand that there be sections of the city that they should be blocked from.

After seeing how much the White Fang could do with their limited power, the leaders of all four kingdoms have moved for a security force to be placed in Menagerie in order to prevent such events to happen again. So far, there have been multiple arrests; some were proved to be plausible, while others ended with a misunderstanding. (People arrested under bogus charges.)

After the events at Vale, Jaune Arc has motioned that all four Star Knights increase their security around their borders. And while Mistral's and Vacuo's listened, the Star Knight of Atlas refused to follow his advice. Not much can be said why Boromir Numenor would do so, only that he feels a Knight who starts a war for juvenile reasons should not be trusted.

General Ironwood and the rest of the Atlisan military returned home and followed Jaune Arc's advice. Despite what Supreme Commander Numenor believed, Ironwood would not risk the kingdom on someone's pride.

Overall, the world of Remnant had gone into a watchful and vigilant 'peace'… for now anyway.

 **(AN: Now, back to the present.)**

* * *

After getting through security, the two collected their bags and began to look around the airport. An old friend of theirs was supposed to meet them there to pick them up, but she hadn't shown up yet.

"I thought she'd be here by now," Jaune said as he looked at the time on his scroll, "What's taking her so long?" Pyrrha shrugged in response.

"Maybe she got held up in traffic?" the warrior princess suggested. Suddenly a voice rang out.

"Or maybe she got here two hours early," the voice said. Quickly turning around, Jaune and Pyrrha saw the bright smiling face of their longtime friend, Yang Xiao Long. Before either of them knew it, they found themselves enveloped in one of Yang's signature bear hugs, Jaune feeling an extra-tight squeeze from Yang's metal arm. Pyrrha feebly reached up and patted Yang on the shoulder to signal for her to let them go so they could breathe.

"Sorry, but it's been so long," she said after her friends finished catching their breath, "You guys hardly ever write, and it's not like scrolls are hard to find these days."

"I know, Yang, and I'm sorry," Jaune said as he rubbed his back, "But being a Star Knight takes up a lot of my time nowadays." Yang lightly punched him on the shoulder in response.

"Ah, don't worry about it," she said, "So, did Vomit Boy puke on the way?" Jaune blushed and widened his eyes at her question.

"What?! No!" Yang laughed and punched him again.

"Come on, buddy, I'm just messing with you," she said with a laugh as the three walked out of the airport and to the parking lot. As they walked, Pyrrha looked over to Yang with a raised eyebrow.

"So where did you park your motorcycle?" she asked. Yang found herself laughing at her question.

"Whoever said anything about my motorcycle?" With that, she took a car key out of her pocket and clicked the unlock button. Jaune and Pyrrha could scarcely believe their eyes when they saw the headlights of a gleaming yellow sports car activate.

"How did you afford that?" Jaune asked, poorly trying to contain his surprise at their ride.

"Don't get too excited, Vomit Boy," Yang replied as she opened the trunk for her friends to place their bags, "This is just a rental. I gotta return it this evening. If you guys don't have anything else, let's get going." After Jaune and Pyrrha climbed in the back seat, Yang put the key in the ignition and drove out of the parking lot. As they sped down the road, Yang looked to her passengers through the rear view mirror.

"So, what have you guys been up to that you can actually talk about?" the blonde brawler asked.

"Well, I got to introduce Jaune to my family after we left Beacon," Pyrrha answered, "They were extremely happy to see him bring me home." Jaune smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, and her uncle is a really generous guy," Jaune added, "Even gave me a new holster for my pistol. It magnetizes the gun to my hip and lets me bring it out without having to draw it. Pretty top of the line stuff, really. Afterwards, I brought Pyrrha home to introduce her to meet my family and stayed with them for a while."

"His sisters were actually quite happy to meet me," Pyrrha said, "Though some of them wouldn't stop teasing him about using his fame to, and I quote, 'get a girl on his arm.'" Yang got a sly grin on her face as she rounded a corner.

"So did you guys see any action _outside_ the bedroom if you get my drift?" she asked with a wink. Jaune knew that she was only teasing, but couldn't stop himself from blushing just the same.

"Not much to say, really," he said, "After I sent a platoon to investigate the ruins of Dol Guldur, they reported back saying that there wasn't anything there. After Atlas left the wall, Ironwood let us have it as a 'gift.' We tore it down and used it to help repair villages surrounding Vale."

"And it wasn't surprising, considering the role he played in the battle," Pyrrha added, remembering being forced to sit there helpless and watch as Cinder Fall sent countless hordes of Grimm to assault the fallen kingdom of Vale, and her manipulation of using Vale and Atlas to attack one another.

"What about you?" Jaune asked.

"Hmm?" Yang asked in confusion.

"Last I heard you and Grun went to Menagerie. Care to shed some light?" Jaune smirked.

Yang started blushing as she was suddenly _extremely_ focused on the road. "W-well, we went and met the Belladonnas. They were really sweet, but Kali kept asking when she was going to get her 'honorary grandbabies', which Grun did nothing to discourage her asking about."

Jaune laughed quietly as he said, "Yup, That sounds like Grun alright." Yang smiled at him and continued.

"I wound up telling her that we weren't ready for kids yet. After we got done we just kind of walked around the city for a while, we went back to our hotel where he made this delicious dinner for us, he proposed, and then we had this really nice cheesecake he made…"

"WHOA, WHOA, WHOA," Jaune started shouting, "Back up a minute!" Yang blushed even harder for getting caught, " I _know_ you did not just try to gloss over that last part to tell us about a damn cheesecake!"

Yang pulled up to a red light and looked at her friends, Jaune almost glaring at her while Pyrrha's eyes are wide and glistening her hands covering her mouth. "Um, surprise?"

Jaune slowly started smiling and says, "Can we see it?" Yang thought for a moment and slowly started peeling the glove off of her left hand, the light reflecting off of gem and metal of a ring. Once her glove was completely off, she held her hand over for them to inspect.

The diamond was a mesmerizing, swirling design. Bright canary yellow twisted and blended with a dark emerald green, both colors finally combining into a bright, grass green sunburst in the center of the diamond. The band was a dark black and silver twist design, coming together to two small animal heads holding the stone, the silver metal forming a small wolf head, while the black metal formed a tiny dragon head.

"Wow," Pyrrha whispered. "It's beautiful. How did he find such a beautiful diamond?"

Yang smiled demurely and starts gently running her metal finger over the stone, "I asked the same thing. Grun said he had a friend in Mistral who had a semblance that could turn Dust into diamond strength weapons. Grun brought the idea to him if he could use that semblance to make jewelry. His friend wasn't sure at first, but after a lot of trial and error, the two figured out how to do it."

Yang lifted her hand, watching as the sunlight feeds through the diamond, yellow and green beams shined on her face. "He got back in touch with his friend about a month ago, to check on him, and to ask him a favor. He said his friend moved to Menagerie and that it would take time to make the design he wanted. Apparently he called last week, saying it was done. Luckily we had planned on coming to Menagerie anyway to visit, so Grun left for a little bit while Kali was pestering me about babies."

Jaune smiled again after hearing the story, nodding to the light that had turned green. As they start driving again, he spoke. "Leave it to Grun to make a proposal that is nearly impossible to follow. That man doesn't know how to do things in half measures."

Yang laughed as she stopped again, taking the opportunity to slip her glove back over her hand. "Yes, he definitely gives his absolute all in everything he does." She looks down where the ring is pushing up at her glove, bringing it up to kiss it.

She suddenly looks over to Jaune and Pyrrha, deadly serious. "I haven't told Ruby about our engagement yet. I don't want her feeling like it is more important than her celebrating her birthday. I'm planning on telling her after all the craziness from the party dies down." She stares dead into Jaune's eyes as she said; "You have to promise me you wont bring it up until I tell her, alright?"

Pyrrha immediately nodded, understanding how important it is to Yang. Yang silently thanked Pyrrha before turning to Jaune, "Swear it to me Jaune." Jaune stared at her incredulously, "You accept a nod from Pyrrha but I have to swear it? The crap, Yang?"

Yang didn't budge. "You remember the last secret we told you to keep? About Pyrrha's last birthday?" Jaune had the decency to blush and look away at that. "Ok, fair point." Pyrrha just giggled and rubbed Jaune's shoulder. "It was still a lovely party, even if it wasn't a surprise."

"Great," Jaune groaned, "Even my girlfriend is ganging up on me." Yang and Pyrrha quickly started giggling at Jaune's plight. "Swear it on your name, Jaune. I want to hear you say it."

Jaune sighs but he finally looks Yang in the eye, "Fine. On my honor as an Arc, I will keep this secret for you." Yang nodded in thanks before looking up and seeing the hotel.

"Here we are, lovebirds," she teased before pulling into the parking lot.

* * *

After parking and helping her friends get their baggage, Yang escorted them to their room. "Ruby is in her room last I heard, she got some presents from Coco and Sun that ended up being pranks. So expect her to be in a bit of a bad mood when you say 'hi'. But I bet seeing you two would put her in a good mood."

"Thanks for the heads up." Jaune replied.

"So what did they give her?" Pyrrha asked with a slight worry about what happened to Ruby.

"Well, the first one was from Sun. When she opened the box, it was a banana peel with a note saying, _'Sorry, Ruby. Got hungry on the way here.'_ " Yang said with a laugh.

Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh too, "Oh dear, and what about Coco's?" Pyrrha almost regretted asking.

"Well, when the first one failed, Ruby went for Coco's because it was a big box. So Ruby goes over to the box and opens it slowly," Yang tried her best to give a straight face, but when she revealed what happened she couldn't stop herself form laughing. "And then - BOOM! - She got blasted with glitter and confetti!"

Jaune couldn't help but snicker at the thought of Ruby getting a face full of glitter as Yang described. "The note inside said _'Hope your birthday goes out with a 'BANG'!'_ If you hurry, maybe you'll catch her with some glitter still in her hair." Yang suggested with a wink.

* * *

After Jaune and Pyrrha dropped off their bags and equipment, they walked over to Ruby's room. They were on the same floor, but on opposite sides of the building.

When they reached the door, they found a sign saying **"Birthday girl in the HOUSE!"** Jaune couldn't help but laugh at the fact that the words were written in Yang's handwriting.

Jaune knocked on the door three times; the response they got was unexpected. " ** _NO THANK YOU!_** I've had enough _CRAZY_ gifts for one day!"

Jaune chuckled a little as he replied, "How about a visit from some old friends?"

They could hear someone coming up to the door in a hurry, and saw a small light shine in the peephole in the door. The door then opened, "Jaune? Pyrrha?"

The door opened all the way to reveal the black and red haired reaper, smiling and dripping tears of joy. There was still a lot of confetti in her hair from Coco's prank, which only made their reunion a lot more joyful. "Ruby Rose." Jaune said with a smile.

"Guys! You made it!" Ruby smiled as she ran up to them both and gave them a hug. Jaune and Pyrrha relieved that Ruby didn't hug them as hard as Yang did.

"20 years old, that's no small number." Jaune said as Ruby let them go, "It's good to see you."

"It's good to see you guys too! Come on, come in!" Ruby said as she let them go and gestured them to follow her into the room.

"You guys want something to eat? I made cookies." Ruby said as she led them into the room.

Ruby's hotel room was the same as Jaune and Pyrrha's. When Vale's finest hotel learned that two of the huntresses who saved the kingdom wanted to rent the place for a birthday party, they gave them the penthouse free of charge. And for Jaune and Pyrrha's room, well, having a personal shuttle isn't the only perk to being a Star Knight.

The penthouse had two bedrooms, a living room that connected with its kitchen and a balcony outside, big enough for five.

"I can brew you guys some coffee too?" Ruby asked as she pointed to the kitchen.

"Sure." Pyrrha said with a smile. Just when she was about to sit down, she noticed that there was a pile of confetti on the seat.

Jaune walked up to the kitchen counter and rested a bag of coffee beans, "I brought the good stuff too."

Ruby turned to see that Jaune brought "Mistralian Coffee." She got so excited, she sprinted over to the counter, causing draft that carried some of the confetti and rose petals over to them. "You brought MISTRALIAN Coffee!?" She then took the bag took a deep breath over it and then hugged Jaune tight, "You are the best!"

When Ruby was hugging on him, in his mind he was thinking, _"Her confetti-filled hair is going up my nose and I can't get her off."_

"Ruby, I think you're suffocating him!" Pyrrha said with a bit of fear in her voice.

Ruby let go and allowed air to return to Jaune's lungs. "I'll go ahead and make us some coffee." Ruby said with a smile as she took the bag of beans. "You guys can sit over-" Ruby cut herself off when she saw that there was confetti all over the dining table, where she originally opened Coco's prank.

"We'll drink it outside." Jaune said with a nervous smile. After saying it he wipes some glitter off his mouth and out of his nose.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha sat on one side of the table while Ruby had the other. All three had coffee mugs in their hands and a plate of chocolate chip cookies in the center of the table.

All three of them drank the first sip at the same time. "Mm… Nothing beats Mistral made coffee."

"We brought a few more packs if you want some." Pyrrha asked with a wink.

"Please!" Ruby said as she reached for a cookie and ate it in one bite. She then looked to the two in front of her and asked, "So, when are you guys finally getting married?"

Ruby caught both Jaune and Pyrrha in the middle of their second sip, as they both immediately spat their drinks in opposite directions. "RUBY!" Jaune exclaimed.

"We aren't getting married." Pyrrha said, and then she thought to herself, _"Not yet anyway."_ Pyrrha started to rub the back of her neck.

Ruby looked at Pyrrha and felt that there was something odd about Pyrrha rubbing the back of her neck when she spoke. _"Weird, did she get a tattoo or something?"_

"We agreed to take things slow." Jaune said as he rested his mug on the table.

Ruby then spat her drink, this time it splattered on one of Jaune's boots, "Ah! Ruby!"

"'Taking it slow?' You guys have been together for two years now! How much time do you need?" Ruby was more disappointed than shocked that they haven't even gotten that far yet.

"Ruby, a real relationship isn't 'become boyfriend and girlfriend and then you're married.' It takes time to grow." Pyrrha said with a more calm voice.

"And two years isn't enough?" Ruby asked.

"When you have a relationship of your own, then we can talk about stuff like this." Jaune said with a bit of irritation. Jaune felt going any further into this subject would only be more awkward for all of them. "So, the last note you sent, three months ago… Are you going to accept it?"

Ruby slumped back in her chair and set her mug on the table, she then gave a little guilty pout as she said, "No… I don't think so."

"What?" Pyrrha asked with pure shock, "But it's an opening to be a teacher at Beacon! Why would you say no?"

"Because I don't want to be sitting in a classroom all the time. I want to be out in the field like Yang and Qrow!" Ruby pouted like a child.

Jaune scoffed at her claim, "Oh come on, Ruby. Glynda goes out on patrols too. Heck, you went on that mission to Mt. Glenn with Oobleck, remember?" Jaune took a cookie and ate some of it as he continued, "Plus you'll have an opportunity to teach the next generation of hunters on how to fight."

Ruby started to see some of the wisdom they were sharing, but a part of her didn't want to listen. "I'm still thinking about, ok." Ruby's attention was then drawn to Vale Central Park. "Looks like they're still setting everything up."

Jaune and Pyrrha both turned to see that she was right. Right then they saw a large banner that said "Happy Birthday Ruby and Yang!" with its colors being both red and yellow.

Ruby and Yang may have been born in different years, but they coincidently shared the same day of the year. This meant that all the party decorations and cake had to have both their colors on it. Although this would be the second birthday they celebrated back in Beacon, it was significant because this one was Ruby's 20th.

From the balcony they could see a stage for both dancers and the band that would be performing. There was a small ice-skating ring that was made, because so many people loved it back in the Christmas party last year. They could also see a small section of the square that was being converted into a karaoke bar.

"I hear Weiss is bringing fireworks." Jaune said with a smile.

"Oh, yeah! She brings the best kinds." Ruby says with great joy. The fireworks Weiss brought last year were some of the best and made Ruby twice as excited.

"I'm amazed Mayor Xiong is willing to put all this into the party." Jaune said with raised eyebrows.

"My sister was pretty persuasive. Plus he said he owed us one." Ruby says with an innocent smile.

"It's a miracle that she hasn't rendered the poor man sterile at this point." Pyrrha said with a small nervous chuckle. Jaune then twitched at the thought of how 'persuasive' Yang was back when they were at Lake Town. "So who else is coming?" Pyrrha asked.

"Everyone! The company, and everyone else we know." Ruby said with a joyful smile. She then took the mug and turned her seat towards the sunset in the distance. Jaune and Ruby saw the same view and adjusted their seats, too. They all admired the sight the sun's golden glow as it sank below the horizon.

Ruby took one big gulp from her coffee and smiled as she said, "Guys… this'll be a night to remember."

* * *

 **(AN: It's PARTY TIME!)**

A green rocket flew straight up into the sky with tan colored sparks flying behind it. The spark trail it left behind made a large cylinder. After a few seconds of going up, the rocket exploded and created a large green cloud of green sparkles. From below it looks like it's a massive tree made of sparkles. As the tree shined all the sparkles fell to the ground, almost like rain, and then disappeared before they landed on anything.

The party was going on for almost an hour, and everyone was having the time of their lives.

Near the food court, a 5 ft. tall birthday cake was being carried to the dessert table in the food court of the park. The cake itself was a red velvet cake with lemon buttercream icing. The colors were to best represent the two birthday women. On top of the cake showed a miniature scythe with a big 20 and two small boxing gloves with a big 22.

On the dance floor, they were playing a very festive song that made everyone want to dance freely and happily. **(AN: it's the same song that played in the Fellowship of the Ring: " _Flaming Red Hair_ ")** Jaune and Pyrrha were dancing it away along with Velvet, Coco, Fox, Yatsuhashi, Sun, Blake, and many other familiar faces.

In the center of the park, Weiss was in charge of the firework show, launching some of her best work into the sky for the party. She had Penny and Winter helping her with setting up and choosing which ones to fire. Some were even made by Penny, as part of her learning experience with Dust.

While everyone was dancing, Jaune could see Neptune sitting at the food court, alone. Jaune could see that Neptune was looking in Weiss' direction while she was working on the next rocket she was going to set off. When Jaune walked in Neptune's direction, Sun spotted him and followed.

They both reached Neptune's table while he was drinking a beer. Jaune then tapped Neptune's left shoulder, "What are you waiting for? Go ask Weiss for a dance!" Jaune spoke with a bit of laughter in his voice.

Neptune looked to Jaune and Sun, he stood up and waved his empty bottle and said, "I think I'll just have another beer."

Just then both Jaune and Sun grabbed Neptune's arms and dragged him towards Weiss. "I don't think so, buddy." Sun said with a smile.

The blonde duo dropped Neptune off just a few feet away from the firework stand and backed away. Luckily none of the girls working there saw them do it. They were too busy setting up the rocket to launch.

Neptune took a deep breath and then walked up to the stand, "Hey, Weiss."

Weiss turned quickly to see who called her out, "Neptune!" She then ran over to the counter of the stand, "Good to see you!"

"Good to see you, too." Neptune said with a bit of redness on his face, "Look, I was in the mood to go dancing, but I didn't want to do it alone, would you be-"

"I'd love to!" She interrupted. Her face turned red, and then she made a nervous smile, "Sure, I'll just have to check in with my sister." She turned to Winter who simply waved her off.

Weiss then walked out of the booth walked up to Neptune; Neptune held up his hand and she took it. They both walked over to the dance floor and began dancing to the same rhythm as everyone else. Jaune and Sun stood in the distance with smiles on their faces, they laughed together at their success.

While Weiss was dancing with her boyfriend, Winter was now in charge of the fireworks. "All set, ready to launch!" Penny said with a big smile on her face. Winter then pulled a match and lit the fuse to the rocket. The rocket flew high into the air and split apart into individual streams of silvery light, each one arcing through the air and diving for the ground. Before they hit anyone, however, the streamers turned upwards and flew back towards the sky.

"So there we were at the mercy of three monstrous trolls…" Nora said in a very ominous tone. She had been telling stories of their adventures to the children at the party, this time she was telling of their journey to Beacon. "They were all arguing on how they were going to cook us; whether it would be turning us on a spit or sit on us one-by-one and squish us into jelly."

Ren could only smile at the sight of Nora telling the children the story, he was genuinely surprised that they didn't seem too scared about some of it, considering how scary it was to be in the middle of all of it.

"Blake and Velvet added more to the argument," Nora said with a bit of excitement in her voice. "They were trying to stall them long enough for Qrow Branwen to get on top of the high rocks and break them in half; allowing the sun to shine through and BOOM!" The children jumped when she shouted, "They all turned to stone!"

Some of the children turned to Ren to see what he had to say about the story, Ren simply replied, "Don't look at me, she's telling the truth, this time." After that the children started to cheer when Nora finished the story of their journey to Vale and Beacon.

Over by the bar, Yang and Grun were having a few drinks, while Grun's team was enjoying a few drinks of their own. Qrow sat at the other side of the bar, downing a shot of whiskey. They even had some company. Carol and her Blue squad, Sarge and the Reds, and even Wash was with them. They all enjoyed their rounds of drinks, and some walked over to the karaoke stage and sang their hearts (and their lungs) out.

Yang turned to Wash, "So, sheriff, how is life treating you?"

Wash laughed as he replied, "Police Commissioner, actually." Everyone started to cheer him on when he shared his recent promotion. "After all that's been happening in Vale, I've been keeping the looting and robbery down to lost library books." Everyone there then raised their glasses and cheered to Wash's new status.

* * *

Jaune returned to the dance floor and walked up to Pyrrha, he held out his hand to her. Pyrrha took it and followed him into the dancing crowd. Once they were in their positions, they began to dance along with everyone else. They looked around and found Sun and Blake; Neptune and Weiss; Coco and Fox; and Yatsuhashi and Velvet.

After some fast paced couple's dancing, everyone moved on to the food court to have their fill, preferably before Nora ate all the sweets. While Neptune was sitting with Weiss, Sun appeared over his shoulder and asked him to go with him, "Sorry to intrude, but you need to see this."

At first Neptune looked to Weiss, and she smiled while waving them off, "Go have fun, I'll be here." Neptune nervously smiled and kissed her forehead before running off with Sun.

* * *

Over by the firework stand, it appeared to be closed down while Winter and Penny were enjoying their break. Sun hopped over the table and walked further in, "Come on, I found something while we were here."

Sun walked into the supply closet and found what he was looking for. It appeared to be a black paper dragon with red paint on it. "This one." Just by looking at it made Neptune excited. Something this big would give off a big enough boom for all of Vale to hear.

They both then take the rocket to a nearby tent where they intend to set it off.

Just as Neptune set the rocket down in the tent, Sun grabbed a lighter and lit the fuse. "Done." Sun said with a smile.

Neptune looked to Sun and pushed the rocket towards Sun; "You were supposed to stick it into the ground!"

Sun caught it and pushed it back while saying, "It is in the ground."

Neptune pushed back, "Outside!"

Sun pushed again, "You wanted to do it HERE!"

And before Sun could push it back the rocket was set off and shot straight up. The rocket propelled with so much force that it pulled the tent Sun and Neptune were standing in upward, pulling it off it's anchors and fly straight up into the air with great speed.

In the shock of the initial blast, Sun and Neptune were both knocked off their feet and on their backs. They looked as the rocket flew up with sparks flying behind it.

Everyone else in the party looked up with amazement at the flames and sparkles. Then the rocket exploded, causing the people to cheer at the beautiful colors.

Then the sparkles from the explosion started to come back together to form a figure. That figure then opened what appeared to be wings and turned back around and began to fly towards the crowd. It appeared to be the form of a dragon, looking similar to how Smaug looked, 2 years ago.

Everyone in the party stopped what they were doing; some panicked and fell over each other; some even ran over tables as the dragon flew towards them.

Ruby looked up and saw the beast coming; she then turned to Jaune and Pyrrha who appeared to be oblivious to the whole scene. "Jaune, look out for the dragon!"

Jaune then looked to Ruby with a confused look, "Dragon? Ruby there hasn't been a dragon here for y- _EARS_!" Jaune and Pyrrha quickly ducked down when they saw what was coming for them.

The sparkling dragon flew overhead and snapped at the crowd before it flew back up high, moving in a more erratic motion, almost like Smaug did in his last moments. It then flew up and then went limp, just after falling a few feet the whole body exploded into dozens of bright and beautiful colors.

Everyone in the crowd cheered with great joy to the bright lights in the sky. Meanwhile, Sun and Neptune were looking at the same view with great and proud smiles on their faces.

"That was awesome!" Sun said.

"Lets get another one." Neptune agreed.

Before they could go and get another rocket, they both squeal as their ears began to get pulled from someone that appeared between them. "2,000 lien worth of Dust, two weeks worth of preparation, and to top it all off, it was going to be my _finale_." Sun and Neptune both look down to see a very angry Weiss between them.

"AHH!" Before Sun could explain himself, he felt a great pain as someone grabbed his tale and pulled on it, _hard_.

"You _PROMISED_ me you wouldn't get into any mischief in this party!" Sun quickly turned around to find his girlfriend looking at him with a disappointing look.

Blake then pulled Sun along so that she could lecture him alone, while Weiss looked to Neptune, "You're in as much trouble as he is!"

* * *

After all the yelling and hitting, Sun and Neptune were both 'elected' to help clean up after the party.

Once all was calm, Jaune and Pyrrha were each pulled aside to opposite sides of the party.

Jaune was with Grun, Sun, Ren, Blake and Neptune at the karaoke bar; while Pyrrha was brought to the food court with Ruby, Weiss, Yang, Nora and Coco.

* * *

 **(First group conversation we will listen in on is Jaune's group)**

Jaune was 'sat down' by both Grun and Sun at the end of a long table while everyone sat on the sides, all looking at him intensely. "Well… Have you asked her?" Grun spoke first among the group.

"Ask who what?" Jaune asked with an oblivious look on his face.

Everyone instantly slammed their heads on the table with how stupid Jaune's question was. "You can't honestly be that dense," Blake said with a groan.

Jaune then gave them a look of disgust, "I was kidding guys, geez. And the answer is 'no'. I haven't asked Pyrrha the question yet."

"WHY?!" Sun and Neptune shouted with anger.

Jaune then rolled his eyes and relaxed on his chair, "If you guys MUST know, I still haven't found the right ring yet! I want it to be special. And at the same time… I'm a little scared."

"Dude, you've been with her for the past two years. Why would she say 'no'?" Neptune asked with confusion.

"I don't want her to feel forced or have us rush into this." Jaune said as he started to huddle his head between his shoulders.

"Jaune, I can tell you with a hundred percent certainty that she will say yes… she's just waiting for you to ask." Ren said with a confident smile.

"Oh come on, it's not that easy, I'm scared. I mean," Juane looks to Grun, "How did you feel when you asked, Gurn? Were _you_ scared?"

Grun simply replied, "I was terrified."

"SEE!" Jaune then gestured to Grun, "I'm not the only one here!"

Grun then raised an eyebrow, "The difference being I nutted up and asked her."

Jaune then groaned, "There are something's you can't rush."

"I repeat what Neptune said before," Blake said with an annoyed look, "It's been two years!"

Jaune sat up and looked at her as he spoke, "I'll have you know my father didn't propose until after the third year with my mother."

Grun then spoke, "Because they were neck deep in fighting Grimm most of that time. Not much chance for a romantic proposal in that time."

Jaune then slumped back in his chair, "Yeah, well, being a Star Knight isn't exactly helping."

As the group continued to pester Jaune on his excuses; on the opposite side of the party, Pyrrha was being "interrogated" by her group. After sitting Pyrrha down, albeit rather forcefully, Ruby noticed that her fiery-haired friend had a small red blemish on the nape of her neck. At first, Ruby thought it was a simple bruise from a previous mission, until she noticed what appeared to be suction marks around it. That's when it clicked for her, and she started to snicker. Pyrrha looked behind her with a nervous expression on her face.

"What?" She asked. Ruby then burst out laughing.

"You've got a cute little hickey on your neck!" the cloaked girl chortled in between breaths. Pyrrha's eyes turned to saucers as she quickly slapped her hand over her neck.

 _Dammit, I thought that thing faded by now!_ She thought. By now everyone began to laugh, except Weiss, who looked away with a blush and a light chuckle. Once they had their fill of laughter at their friend's expense, the girls calmed down and straightened themselves up.

"Has he asked you yet?" Yang asked after clearing her throat.

"No… he hasn't." Pyrrha says with a bit of sorrow in her voice.

All the other women slump back in their chairs. "What the hell is wrong with him?" Weiss asked, "Well, not saying there wasn't anything before, but this is just crazy."

"Weiss!" Ruby hissed.

"What? It's been two years since you two started living together and he still hasn't asked her." Weiss said with a bit of irritation in her voice.

"To be honest, I don't entirely blame him." Coco says, "Not all men can attain that much courage so fast."

"So fast? Two years is plenty!" Yang said with a bit of experience in her voice.

"Guys its fine! He'll ask me when he's ready." Pyrrha held up her hands trying to calm down her friends.

"So are you going to say yes?" Ruby asked with a twinkle in her eye.

"I… I don't know…" Pyrrha says with a _very_ nervous voice.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW?!" Nora shouts almost at the top of her lungs, luckily for them the food court was mostly vacant and wasn't victim to Nora's outburst.

Weiss then spoke, "The man fought through Hell and back just to avenge you! And then when he learned that you were alive he finally told you he loved you! How could you not be sure?!"

"Believe me, there's nothing I would want more… but I'm willing to respect his decision to wait." Pyrrha said with a confident look on her face.

"And that's why you're perfect for him." Coco pointed out with a proud smile, "Anyone else would have pestered him or nagged him to ask… but you are willing to wait."

"Let's hope he doesn't wait too long." Ruby says with a smirk.

"I have a feeling he will ask when he's ready." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Weiss just made a starteling realization, "OH, I almost forgot to ask, do you two have any plans this week?"

"Well, we were planning on spending the next few weeks just staying in vale for Jaune's time off tour, why?" Pyrrha asked.

"Well, I'm going to be having a concert in a week for a fundraiser to help Vale. Even though it was my father's suggestion, I wanted to ask if you and Jaune could come? Having the hero of the Battle of the Five Armies could help raise funds for the rebuilding."

"I'm sure he would be open to. Plus I'm sure he'd love to see one of your concerts. As would I." Pyrrha says with a smile.

"Great! I'll be sure to send you both invitations." Weiss says with a smile.

* * *

The party ended around midnight. All the guests went home and a majority of the tents and equipment were taken down. RWBY and JNPR all gathered in the food court of the hotel they were all staying at for one last thing before they all went to bed:

Opening birthday presents.

Jaune spoke to the group, "Alright everyone, since she is the youngest, Ruby gets to open hers first. Ruby, come on." Jaune motioned for Ruby to open the first present.

Ruby opened a box that revealed a knife that was 40 cm. The sheath and the leather handle were made of black leather, with a red rose symbol on both. She opened it to see that it was made of a dark metal.

"That is reformed Rhodium steel that used to be your mother's spear. Your father gave us the spearhead to use and I had Vale's best blacksmith reforge it while everyone else helped to pay for it. I figured a long knife was the best choice for your travels." Jaune said with a smile.

Ruby was so happy, now a part of her mother would always be with her in a fight. "Thank you, guys." She then looked to the blade and thought about a good name for it, "I think I'll call it the same name my mother's spear had, "Black Thorn." Everyone smiled in agreement to her choice in the name.

Yang opened her first gift next. She opened the box that had an Atlas Logo on it. She opened to find what appeared to be a brand new arm. What was strange about it was, it looked like it had real skin on it. "No way! A new model?"

"Try it on!" Weiss said with a smile.

Yang removed her gold and black arm and attached the new one. The new one then synced up to her nervous system like the old one did, but then something different happened. Yang closed her hand and _felt_ it. "WHOA! I… I can _feel_ it!"

"Like Penny's skin, it feels like real skin." Blake said as she touched Yang's new arm. "She said that the same connection it has to your nervous system allows the skin to even feel real."

"And in combat, the feeling in the skin can turn off, so that you don't feel all the pain in that arm." Weiss adds with a smile.

Yang smiles with stars in her eyes, "Thank you all SO MUCH!"

After Yang calmed down, Ruby opened her last gift. It was a red wood box, inside were necklaces and other jewelry that used to be her mother's. "Wow! I've always wanted to wear these. Thanks you guys!"

As Ruby looked inside the jewelry box, Yang opened her final gift. It was a fairly large metal box. She opened it to reveal shotgun boots that resemble her Ember Celica. "Oh. My. Oum… YOU GUYS ROCK!" She immediately took them out of the metal case and struggled to put them on her legs.

Once she got them on she showed them off to everyone. "These are great!" She then performed some of her own moves and included her boot shotguns in them; they would click when she intended to fire, since they were empty. "I've always wanted to have boots of my weapon, but could never afford to make them."

"Then it's a good thing you have friends in high places." Jaune smiles as she winks at Weiss.

Ruby and Yang then gave their friends a massive and tight group hugs as a "thank you" to their great gifts.

* * *

With all the gifts shared and the night at its end, everyone went to their own rooms before sleep could claim them.

The party was a night that would be remembered, and what came next would certainly never be forgotten…

* * *

 **A/N: If you were wondering if that last sentence was written like that to be ominous, you would be correct.**

 **See you guys next week!**


	3. Massacre at Minas Ithil

**Massacre at Minas Ithil**

* * *

 **AN: The name says it all. Hopefully what happens won't be _too_ graphic for your liking.**

 **I would like to give a GREAT thanks to both my Beta-Readers/Partners Nightengale4698 and Breakawayfan!**

 **Thank you all for your patience in these two weeks.**

 **Now, on to the story!**

* * *

On the island of Patch, there stood a house in a forest. The same house that Ruby and Yang have lived in since they were born. It had been two days since the party, and while most stayed in Vale, Ruby and Yang went back home.

At the time, Yang was at the sparring field practicing her new ankle guns. She was using some of the same moves she often did, but this time she was able to use her feet as more of an offense than defense. She even managed to blast some of the dummies to pieces with her new weapons.

Meanwhile, Ruby was in her room trying out all her mother's jewelry: necklaces, bracelets and even a few earrings. Luckily her ears were already pierced so they were able to fit on her ear.

When she was about to pull out another necklace to try on, she accidently pulled the box off the dresser it was sitting on. The box fell and hit the ground. "Oh, crap!"

She lowered down fast to pick it up; she inspected the box to find that its wood wasn't too damaged. Then she noticed something on the inside. The fall must have knocked open a small compartment inside the box.

She fully opened the compartment and a small, gold banded, black-jeweled ring fell out and landed in her hand. "Huh… I don't remember Mom wearing this one…"

The jewel was small and looked fairly old. She held it out and imagined it on her hand, but then she felt that it wouldn't look good on her. _"But it did belong to Mom…"_ She looked back into the jewelry box and saw a spare silver chain. She grabbed it and put it through the ring, she then put the now ring-necklace on and looked in the mirror. "Huh, that's not bad, actually."

What Ruby didn't notice while looking in the mirror, was that at the center of the jewel, there grew a dim green glow. It wasn't bright enough to be noticed, but it was enough to be seen if looked for.

* * *

Several hundred miles away, a barren wasteland of black dunes and razor sharp rocks could be seen. For miles there were crystals the size of trees protruding out of the ground. The sky was dark with a blood red fog over the horizon. The black kingdom of Mordor was still as potent in darkness as ever.

In the distance could be seen a 1,400-meter tall tower with two curved spikes on top with a flaming oval between them; the oval vaguely looked like an eye of some kind. The tower looked very similar to Cinder Fall's Spire fortress, but was much larger and scarier by design. Unlike the Spire, this fortress appeared to be made of rock, black steel and sculpted obsidian.

At one of the top floors of the tower, there was a room with a large pool of silver mercury. Next to the pool stood a long table with several chairs, with one at the end that was much larger than the others and had more decorations on it than the others. The decorations consisted of jewels that protruded from the sides and a large eye that looked similar to the top of the tower was carved on the 'head' of the chair.

There were five figures standing in the room, and although they looked different from one another, their skin was all pale white and their eyes were glowing blood red. Two of them looked like large men, while the other three looked like women of varying height.

One of these figures was looking out the window with a pout on her face. Her cloak was pink and when she spoke, razor sharp teeth could be seen behind her lips.

" ** _Ugh… When are we going to_ DO _something?! It's been_ TWO _years…_** " She said with a childish tone.

One of the other women, this one with a lighter blue cloak on, walked up to the one in pink and rested her hand on her shoulder, " ** _Calm down Jackie. We've been waiting patiently for our revenge for centuries. I think you can afford to wait a little while longer._** "

Jackie pulled her shoulder out of the other woman's grasp, " ** _Speak for yourself, Jadis… you were the first of us…_** "

One of the men looked to Jackie with a disappointed glare, " ** _Why do you complain like a child?_** " The man who spoke looked to be about 6ft 8in, his body had a strong build with large muscle tone. He wore a set of black armor with a white stripes running down the arms.

The other man answered the first's question, " ** _She's always been like that, Rourke. Unlikely to change…_** " The second man wore armor similar to Rourke's except it had an orange stripe down the arms. His height appeared to be the same as the other, however his body build was slightly slimmer, albeit with strong muscle tone on his arms.

The third woman gave a sarcastic smirk at the second man's comment, " ** _At least she's eager to spill a little blood. Unlike you, Radcliffe; all you'd rather do is sit up in your precious tower and experiment all day._** " This woman appeared to have talons on her fingers and dressed in a dark purple cloak. Her cloak's sleeves resembled the feathers of a bird.

" ** _Huh, that's cute coming from someone who barely lasted a minute against their kingdom's Star Knight. Really, Zyra, you should have known better._** _"_ Rourke said with an arrogant smile.

Zyra looked to Rourke with an annoyed glare, " ** _That bastard took me by surprise! And let's not forget that for all your bravado and sexism, you got_ YOUR _ass handed to you by a Maiden! How does that irony taste?_** "

Radcliffe couldn't help but add more to the argument, " ** _Oh, like poisoning the forests was the brightest idea you could think of… if anything, you practically_ asked _them to come after you._** "

Jackie started to laugh like a child, " ** _Ha, even_ I _know that's dumb!_** "

Zyra started to get irritated and opened her hands wide to reveal all her talons; they began to drip green liquid, " ** _How about I poison_ YOU _instead, nimrod!_** "

Rourke was the first to grab his sword and almost unsheathed it, " ** _Try it, birdbrain!_** "

Suddenly a waist high wall of ice appeared between the two before they could fight. They both looked to the source of the ice and saw Jadis with her hand up, " **ENOUGH! _Now is not the time for fighting like petty juveniles!_** "

Radcliffe realized how foolish they were behaving and saw how despicable it was, he then walked up to Rourke and rested his hand on his shoulder, " ** _I am willing to concur. Stand down, brother._** "

Rourke looked to Radcliffe and starts to relax, " ** _As you wish._** " He then pushes his sword back into its sheath and lets go of the handle.

The **Nazgul** … All were once people whom fought for the light but succumbed to their temptations and personal desires.

Jadis was the first Maiden to fall to darkness; she caused a blizzard in Mantle that lasted eight months, earning herself the name of " **Winter Witch** ". Zyra was the second and was considered the most deadly, she poisoned the forests of Western Sanus and almost destroyed the kingdom of Vacuo; history labels her as the " **Spring Harpy** ". The third maiden, Jacqueline, was the most malicious and bloodthirsty of the group, she was given the name " **Summer Banshee** " due to her habit of screeching at her victims until their ears bled or slitting their throats. She attempted to put her self in a high political position before her darkness was discovered.

The two men were once Star Knights whom forsaken their vows in the hope for personal gain. Rourke Numenor was a knight born into a time of civil war and was considered a warmonger. He was known as the " **Black Knight of Mantle** " back when the old kingdom was still in power. Radcliffe Smith was the smartest of his generation and almost succeeded in conquering Vacuo. He was known as the " **Black knight of Vacuo** ".

Just then, the doors to enter the room slowly swung open. The hinges creaked as the doors unveiled the dark figure that entered. Salem herself entered first, followed by her cohorts Dr. Watts, Hazel, Tyrian and Locus.

The moment all five of them saw Salem, they kneeled and all spoke in unison, " ** _Your grace._** "

Salem raised her hand as her minions entered behind her, " **Please, my friends, take your seats.** "

All the Nazgul sit in the seats at the table along with the rest of Salem's followers. While both the men sat at on Salem's left of the table, the three women sat on the opposite side.

Salem was the last to sit down, with all eyes on her, " **I have sensed something I haven't felt in… a long time.** "

Radcliffe was the first to speak, " ** _What is it, milady?_** "

" **My father's last gift before his untimely passing, the Ring of Darkness, has awakened… After 85 years, it has reached out to me.** " Salem says with a slight voice of joy.

Jadis felt eager to please her queen, " ** _Then what are your orders, your grace? Are we to seek it out and return it to your power?_** "

Salem smiles at her top general, " **Not just yet…** " She then stands up and waves her hand over the mercury pool. The pool starts to ripple and form solid three-dimensional shapes. At the same time, the eye at the top of the tower began to turn. The mercury pool changed until it took the form of a castle that stood only a few miles from the natural barriers of Mordor. " **Thanks to Locus' information, the hidden fortress of Minas Ithil has been located.** "

Rourke smirked, " ** _Say the word and your army will decimate that castle._** "

Salem smiles, " **I appreciate your forwardness, Rourke, but we cannot be too hasty yet. The moment we open the Black Gate for our army to march through, Atlas will be aware of our current status.** "

Rourke then realize his stupidity and leaned back in his chair in embracement. Jackie started to chuckle under her breath, " ** _Dummy._** "

Rourke started to grip his hand on the table tight, but was stopped when a thin layer of ice formed over his part of the table. The two looked to Jadis as she gave them both a glare.

Salem smiled and spoke, " **Now, now, Jacqueline. Rourke wasn't wrong on what we must do, but we cannot use that method so soon.** "

Jadis then sat up as she asked, " ** _Then what method should we use, your grace?_** "

Salem looked to Jadis with a smile, " **In this day and age, the world sees you five as nothing but legends and myths of times long past… I believe you should remind them why you were given your titles. You five will go to Minas Ithil, alone… and take that fortress for our own purposes.** "

Locus hesitated ask, so he lifted his arm first. Salem looked to him and allowed him to voice is opinion, "Forgive me, ma'am… but five people can't take a fortress of that scale on their own…"

Rourke started to smile and then turned to Locus with a malevolent glare. " ** _I don't think you know us, metal man._** "

Locus responded to Rourke's boast rather difficultly. He was tempted to point his pistol at Rourke's smug face, but was stopped by Salem when she raised her hand to him, " **Locus, I want you to go to Mistral, tell our informant that the time is almost upon us.** "

Locus nodded his head to the dark queen. Salem then turned to her other 'friends'. " **Dr. Watts and Hazel, I want you to look for Sienna Khan and tell him to prepare his forces. When the war begins, I want the White Fang to be ready for their role in it.** "

Watts and Hazel nodded to the queen's order without question. "I certainly hope the Fang is prepared for this scale of war, we all know how it turned out last time." Hazel said a rather disappointed look in his eyes.

"From what I hear, Khan has done great work with our 'control bands'… and when the war begins, they may just be ready for a _real_ siege." Watts said with a rather optimistic voice.

Zyra then raised her hand to get her queen's attention, " ** _What will our orders be once the fortress is taken, your grace?_** "

Salem first looked to the two Black Knights. First to Rourke, " **Rourke, you will organize our forces here, I want them ready by the end of the month.** " Rourke bowed his head in acknowledgement.

Jackie snickered as she spoke, " ** _Have fun babysitting._** "

Rourke growled as he spoke, " ** _I could cut you open like the balloon you are if Salem didn't have a mission for you._** "

Jackie's response to his threat was rather juvenile: she simply stuck her tongue out like a child teasing their sibling. Her attention was brought back to business after Jadis elbowed her.

" **Radcliffe, you will go to the ancient fortress of Fornost. I want you to begin preparations for Vale's theater of war.** " Radcliffe bowed his head. " **Tyrian, you will go with him. But first… I need you to find a little green friend who may know where to find my father's ring.** "

Tyrian then smiled and let out a sinister chuckle, "As you wish, my queen…" He said as he bowed, then he turned to Radcliffe with an excited grin, "And it would be an _honor_ to work with the Butcher of Carn Dûm."

Radcliffe simply huffed, " ** _Just don't get in my way._** "

Salem then turned to her three Dark Maidens, " **Once you are finished with the fortress, I want you three to return. By that time I will have a new assignment for you** " She asks with a devious smile, to which she was met with theirs.

All five stood from their seasts and bowed to their queen one last time before leaving. " **Zyra. Come here.** "

Zyra stopped and turned back to her queen. She walked up to her and kneeled before her, " ** _Yes, your grace?_** "

Salem looked to Zyra with a smile, " **I want you to leave some survivors… dead men can tell no tales…** "

" ** _And you want them to spread the fear. Understood._** " Zyra finished her queen's sentence with a smile.

" **Also, I want you to send them a message…** " Salem then pulled a small dagger out from her sleave and handed it to Zyra, " **Make sure they get it.** "

Zyra bowed her head, " ** _It will be done._** "

* * *

In the middle of nowhere, there stood a pearl white fortress of Minas Ithil. The outer walls were 50 ft. high and 15 ft. thick of concrete and steal rebar. The main gate was made of 8 inches of steel; it stood 20 ft. tall and 15 ft. wide.

The main tower was 80 ft. tall and could see over the whole fortress and beyond. It looked very similar to Atlas' CCT tower, however it was slightly shorter. Behind the whole fortress was a massive wall of mountains, spanning as far as the eye can see in both directions. Its height reached beyond that of the tower, and pierced the clouds above.

Behind the fortress, a small section of the mountain began to open up, allowing a Bullhead shuttle to land in a small hanger bay. The shuttle was all white, with a Sky Knights of Atlas symbol on its side.

As the shuttle landed, it's main door opened and allowed it's only passenger to disembark. One of the guards spotted the orange haired passenger as she walked out. "Hey, look."

The other guard look to see her as well, "Whoa, the android? What is she doing here?"

"No idea, I wasn't expecting a Sky Knight to come _here_." The other guard said with a shocked voice.

Penny walked up to three men, the base commander and two more guards. The base commander saluted right before Penny returned the salute.

"Major Polendina! If I knew you were coming, I'd have set up a formal greeting." The colonel said with a bit of disapointment in his voice.

Penny smiled as she lowered her hand, "I appreciate that, Colonel Bowie. Unfortunately I wasn't aware of my destination until I was already over the ocean."

The Colonel nodded in understanding, then he rasied his hand for Penny to follow, "Well in any case, let me show you around. Let you see how things are run here in the middle of nowhere."

Penny followed the colonel without protest, as they walked out of the docking bay; they go to the outer catwalks to see the whole fortress. Penny now had an open view of the titanic mountains that were behind the fortress. She obviously saw them on her flight in, but to see them up close was incredible. "I've seen natural barriers before, but that is impressive."

"Yeah, those are the Spiral Mountains, really the only thing worth seeing in this forsaken place. Past it is the ashen wasteland of Mordor." Bowie said with a bit of bitterness in his voice when he mentioned the wastelands.

Penny knew of Mordor, but not too much. "Mordor… I've heard stories, most of them bedtime stories meant to scare the kids. Others…"

Bowie finished her sentence, "Supposedly true. I heard an old record of them taking people and turning them into creatures that resemble Grimm, but were worse than them."

Penny was then confused, "What could possibly be worse than Grimm?"

Bowie turned back to her and looked her in the eye. "According to the old accounts, they were called 'Orcs,' or something, and supposedly they enjoyed causing pain to their victims."

Penny's body then made a sudden shift for a split second at the thought of some one enjoying hurting people. She quickly adjusted her posture and shook her head back to reality.

Bowie looked at Penny with a bit of a confused look in his eyes. "Are you alright, Major?"

Penny looked to the colonel with a nervous smile, "Forgive me, I had a sudden power surge through my spinal structure."

"Oh, had a shiver, huh? Didn't know robots could get those." Bowie was genuinely surprised to learn that a robot could get scared.

Penny then stands up straight as she explains, "My body was designed to be the mechanical equivalent to that of a human in their 20s. And my mind is made to act like a normal brain would... although the amount of information I have is still "limited"..." This topic often made her feel uncomfortable, so she quickly changed the subject, "Shall we continue to your command center?"

"Yes, right this way." Col. Bowie said as he led her to his office, just above the main command center in the central tower.

* * *

Bowie led Penny to the main tower complex of the fortress. As they walked in they took an elevator straight up to the top floor that holds both the main command center and the commanding officer's office. As they walk out of the elevator, Penny gets a glimpse at the command center.

The room was very wide, slightly bigger than Ozpin's office at Beacon. In the center of the room was a large holographic table that was projecting a geographical map of the area, within a 300-mile radius.

Bowie led Penny into his office. As she walked in, she spotted two musket pistols mounted on the wall. His desk was made of metal and had three holographic screens projecting. Aside from a few flags, there was a small-scale model of the Fortress City of Minas Tirith as decoration on his desk.

The fortress city was large, while the city took up the bulk of the model, on the top of the mountainside was Atlas Academy's CCT tower. Penny remembered seeing the city for the first time. The tower took the term "skyscraper" to a whole new level.

Penny smiled at the model, "Minas Tirith... I was stationed there for a few weeks... have you been there?"

As Bowie walked around his desk, he looked to where she was looking and smiled back, "Once, after my basic training. The view from the top of Atlas' tower is one to remember"

Penny then walked to the front of the desk and stood up straight with her arms behind her waist. "So, is everything in order here, colonel?"

Colonel Bowie sat down in his chair, did a quick check over the reports he got from all the other officers in the base. "Yes, ma'am. Our last supply shipment came in last week. The mech parts we wanted are in use; ammunition is being used as well, although there's no need for it out here. As for my troops, the food and water we received should hold us out for a long while."

Penny smiled at the news, "Good to hear." Penny then looks out the window and sees the view of the rather scorched land outside the walls. She then sees the stairway up along the walls, outside the perimeter. At the top of the stairway she could see the cave that was the bane of this post. "I imagine it's hard to live here. Especially with ' ** _Cirith Ungol_** ' nearby."

Bowie couldn't help but flinch at the name of that terrible cave. "That place is nothing more than a maze of caverns that are impossible to navigate without a thread. After what I heard about the disappearances in the past, I ordered that labyrinth to be a 'No man's land.' Not even a watch."

Penny turned back to the colonel, "Well, I'm glad to know that you're keeping it off limits as instructed. I always hate hearing of MIAs."

Bowie stood up form his desk and walked over to his coffee maker to poor himself a cup. "As do I. Is there anything else I can help you with while you're here, Major?"

"Well, I am currently following up on a report of an "All Black" Bullhead flying in this sector. I have reason to believe that the owner of the plane was an accessory to the Battle of the Five Armies."

Penny immediately caught Bowie's attention when she mentioned the battle; he lost a few friends that were officers in that skirmish. "A black bullhead? I don't think I've heard of something like that before."

Penny then lowered her head in disappointment, "That's unfortunate... when Ironwood told me it was here I was hoping we had him."

"Who is it exactly is the owner?" Bowie asked after taking a sip from his coffee.

Penny then gave the colonel a serious look as she replied, "He is a black armored mercenary. The only alias he is known by is "Locus"."

Bowie had never heard that name before. He used to think he knew all the names of the major players in the mercenary business. "What else can you tell me about this 'Locus'?"

Penny then looked rather annoyed, "Not much really... he's a rogue... there's very little we know about him. Aside from Pyrrha Nikos' mention of him, there is no other record."

"I see. If I see any sign of a black Bullhead in the area, I'll send for you immediately." Bowie said with a very serious voice.

Before Penny could say anything, a soldier walks in and salutes the two officers, "Colonel, Major."

Bowie turned to his subordinate, "What is it, Sergeant?"

The soldier looked to the colonel with a concerned look on his face, "We've spotted an unknown Bullhead two clicks from the base. It appears to have landed in the black sand lands."

"Affiliation?" Penny asked with worry in her voice.

"Unknown." The Sergeant replied.

Bowie started to feel uneasy; he stood up from his desk and started walking towards the exit, "Try to hail the ship. Ask them why they are out here."

The sergeant backed up to let the colonel and the major through, "We've already tried, sir. So far, no response."

They reached the main Command Center and pulled up a holographic projection of the base; they then zoomed in where the ship was detected.

Bowie had an unnerving feeling that something bad was coming, "Tell the front guard to be ready for anything. If it's White Fang, you have permission to terminate on sight."

Penny then walks to the window to see if her enhanced eyes could see the ship. Before she could get a clear look, her vision was hazed. When she reverted her eyes back to normal, she saw that it was snowing. "Colonel... is it normal for it to be snowing at this time of year?"

Bowie snapped his head up to see what Penny was talking about and was confused beyond belief, "What the hell?" Bowie then pressed a button on the intercom, "Ensign Verde, would you mind telling me why it's suddenly snowing outside?"

" _I don't understand... Colonel, that cold front came out of nowhere!_ " the ensign said on the radio.

Colonel Bowie started to get frustrated, "What do you mean a cold front? It's the middle of August! We shouldn't be getting cold fronts!"

Penny could hear the nervousness in the ensign's voice, " _It's almost as if it appeared right over us out of thin air._ "

The view outside became harder and harder to see, even for Penny. "Colonel, it's getting worse out there. A second ago I couldn't see past 4 miles, now I can't see any father than the main wall."

Bowie started to get even more frustrated at the situation; unknown ship appearing, sudden snow storm out of nowhere, "What the hell is going on?!" He then stepped away from the console and looked to Penny, "Major, come with me."

Bowie led Penny back to the elevator and then pressed the button that floor that had some of the highest catwalks. Once they reached the floor, they stepped outside to see how things were looking, only to be blinded by a sudden flurry of snow. Just then, an ear-piercing shriek rips through the nippy air.

Once the shrieking stopped, he looked to the cloudy sky, "What the hell was that?!"

Penny tried to identify the sound to possible Grimm types, she ran a sound analysis on all known creatures that can shriek but found no matches could be found in her database, "I don't know... but whatever it is, it's not a Grimm."

One of the sergeants ran up to Colonel Bowie on the catwalk. "Tell our men to take up arms and be ready for combat. If it's a fight they want, then we'll give it to them."

Penny quickly turned to Bowie, "What are this base's defensive capabilities?"

Bowie gave her a serious glare, "Our gates are made to withstand a full force attack from a pack of Goliaths; we have over 1,000 soldiers strong, two dozen mechs and tanks to use. Whatever's coming, we can take it."

They both then hear a loud bang against the main gate. They look to see a small dent in the Gate, about the size of a fist. A few more dents were made on the door right before the gate smashes to the floor.

In the wake of the dust from the door crash, two large men in black armor walk in through the arch and draw their swords. Several Atlas soldiers moved in on them and were cut down within two minutes.

Bowie's jaw dropped to the floor with complete fear, "Those gates were 8 inches of steel."

Penny focused her eyes down on the two attackers, "I only see two men...?"

Ensign Verde contacted Bowie through the radio, " _Major, Colonel, whatever is attacking the base is not White Fang! I repeat, not White Fang!_ "

A few officers spoke on the radio, " _This is Sargent Azule on the wall, there's something in the air. It's small and fast._ "

" _Sergeant Braun reporting. One of my men reported seeing a humanoid figure walking through the storm._ "

Something wasn't adding up for Penny; sure, they were large men, but they were too powerful, even with Aura. Penny then changed her eyesight to false color to see the kind of radiation they were emitting. "I am detecting something... some kind of radiation I've never seen on a person before... and it's coming from the them."

Bowie looked to Penny with confusion, "What radiation are we talking about here?"

Penny was having a hard time making sense of it herself, "It's similar to what we find on Grimm, but these reading are more... intense. And they've never come from people before…"

" _This is Lieutenant Krasnyy, squads 3 and 6, form up on the intruders!_ " shouted one of the officers on the radio.

14 Troopers form a circle around both men with their rifles pointed at them. Rourke turns to Radcliffe with a half smile, " _ **Do you want to go first?**_ "

Radcliffe smiled back, " _ **If you insist.**_ "

In the state of fear and confusion the troopers were in, one of the random soldiers shouted at the others, "FIRE AT WILL!"

The soldiers fired at Radcliffe, who simply swung his sword in front of himself and knocked the bullets aside before hacking into the men's bodies and flinging others away with telekinetic force. He then swung his blade, cutting soldiers down with ease. Some even tried to use their weapons to block his sword but failed when the sword cut through the rifle like a knife through butter.

Bowie shouted into the radio, "Krasnyy, GET OUT OF THERE NOW!" His warning failed to reach Krasnyy in time before he was decapitated by one of the soldiers.

Penny shouted into the radio after seeing more troops get killed, "Paladin Corp.; arm up and engage at will!"

* * *

After cutting down a few soldiers, Rourke could hear heavy machinery moving their way. He looks to see the mechs as they walk towards them, " _ **One thing certainly hasn't changed: Mantle still likes to use expensive toys.**_ "

" _ **And we will have just as much fun destroying them.**_ " Radcliffe said after decapitating the last soldier in the courtyard.

Rourke then charges as they open fire, " _ **Pathetic.**_ " He then slashes one Paladin in half at the waist and then stabs a second. His inertia of stabbing the second forced it to fall on it's back, with him on top.

Radcliffe raises his right hand and lifts one of the 8 inch steel doors into the air. Using his sword as a control stick, he then flung the door at one of the Paladins crashing it into the wall behind with relative ease.

Radcliffe smiled at his easy attack, " _ **And this is supposed to be the most powerful Kingdom in Remnant? Vacuo put up a better fight than this!**_ "

Radcliffe lifted some of the broken pieces of the Paladins and threw them at the main tower, the explosions echoed through the tower and hitting multiple rooms. Some of the explosions even reached the armory, causing a chain reaction of explosions that killed dozens of men who were nowhere near the battle.

As the battle continued below, riflemen were lining up along the wall preparing to fire on the two attackers. Then one of the soldiers looks up when he hears the loud screech again. Then he was stabbed by six talons to the body and was pushed to the ground onto his back. " _ **Mind if I drop in?**_ " Zyra said with a devious smile.

The Harpy then got up and started slashing several soldiers in a row; her talons were dripping in different colors of liquid, each being a different kind of poison. Whenever she scratched or stabbed a soldier, their skin started to change color where she slashed them; some had blood coming out of their eyes and nose, while others started to foam at the mouth. One soldier even started vomiting copious amounts of blood.

Along the opposite wall, several soldiers switched their sniper scopes to Thermal mode to try and see through the snowstorm. However, just as they were about to try looking for their adversaries, a loud screech rang out from their right. All of the men dropped their weapons and began holding their ears, and one of them could be seen with blood dripping between his fingers.

One of the other men looked up and saw a woman in a pink kimono hovering above them, her eyes glowing red and a wide grin spreading across her face, the scars along her cheeks making it even wider.

" _ **Did you like the song, boys?**_ " Jackie teased before holding her arms out and growing eight-inch claws from her fingertips. The Banshee lowered herself towards the troops getting ready to swing her claws at anyone in front of her, " _ **Allow me to show you boys why I used to be called, 'Jackie the Ripper'!**_ "

The men barely had time to anticipate her movements before the woman was upon them, slicing their throats open like a knife through butter.

* * *

Penny saw the bloodbath along the walls, "Squads on the walls and in the courtyard, fall back to the main complex! NOW!"

Bowie then pressed typed in a code into his code that activated the emergency evacuation alarm for the whole base, "All troops, head to the hanger bay, prepare for evacuation!" Officers, soldiers, technicians, mechanics; everyone that was still alive were making their way to the hanger bay before it was too late.

* * *

Meanwhile, some of the Paladins that tried to run from Rourke and Radcliffe, but were halted when their legs were covered in a layer of ice, freezing their feet to the ground.

Rourke and Radcliffe turned to see Jadis walk between them and up to one of the Paladins.

The pilot started to hyperventilate. He tried desperately to climb out of his seat but then it started to frost inside the cockpit he couldn't get out. Then he quickly froze solid, and his breathing stopped dead.

Outside, Jadis was holding onto the Paladin with her left hand, " _ **No matter their advancements, they're still weaklings underneath.**_ "

Rourke looked up to the main tower and was quite impressed by their architecture. But that wouldn't stop them from continuing their mission, " _ **Looks like they're hiding in the main structure.**_ "

Zyra jumped off from the wall she was on and landed next to Jadis, " ** _They could be heading to the airships._** "

Jadis gave a rather annoyed look, " _ **If they get away, Salem will be displeased with our work. There can be NO survivors!**_ "

Zyra spoke up, " _ **Actually, her grace wants survivors. Survivors can spread the fear of our power, and she wants me to send them a message.**_ "

Jackie then dropped in, " _ **Then this will be even more fun!**_ "

Jadis rolled her eyes at Jackie's immaturity, " _ **Very well…**_ "

* * *

Meanwhile, Bowie and Penny have been ordering troops to defensive positions inside the base; barricades built on stairways, small turrets mounted down hallways. But they already knew that wouldn't be enough.

Penny looked to the terrified troops around her, "We need to escape with the ships."

"I know, but there aren't enough bullheads in the hanger bay for all of us. And with that storm we may never get away." Colonel Bowies said as he loaded his rifle. Penny started to get worried. Bowie was right, not everyone was getting out of this alive.

Before Bowie could respond, Verde walked up to them both, "We're down to less than 200 troops, Colonel... If we keep them bottle necked, we could hold for about 20 minutes. But right now they haven't tried anything."

Bowie looked to Penny, hoping she had something up her cybernetic sleeve, "It's your show now, Major. What are your orders?"

Penny starts to look around, even if ALL the ships were full, more than half would still be left behind. "I... I don't know... not everyone is getting away..."

Ensign Verde pulled out his scroll and did the math, "We can at least get the wounded out... and most of the younger members of our unit. While the rest of us could buy them some time... They could also warn Atlas of what's coming..."

Penny felt that it was a good plan, but these were Bowie's men, it was his call, "Colonel?"

Bowie finished loading his rifle and charged it, "We'll hold the line while you and the pilots head to the launch bay. Atlas needs to know what happened here and be prepared for it."

Bowie then started pressing buttons on the wall console, activating the internal defenses to help the troops inside. Penny walked up behind him, "You could come with us..."

Bowie frowned at the thought of leaving his men behind, "This is my base... I'm not about to leave it when it needs me the most. Verde, go with the major and gather all the wounded and as many young soldiers to the hanger bay as you can." Bowie and a few other heavy Troopers held their weapons at the ready, "We'll escort you."

As they walked to the hanger bay, Bowie spoke through the radio, " _Soldiers of Atlas... this is Colonel Bowie speaking... I ultimately regret to inform you that not everyone is leaving, I've ordered that all the wounded an every soldier younger that 20 to the shuttle bay for evacuation. We have held this base for almost 100 years, what is attacking us is what we been defending against. And right now these survivors are the only chance for Atlas to know what is going on here... As my final order as the colonel of Minas Ithil, I order you to hold the line as long as you can, buy these people time with your lives... I'm sorry, gentlemen, but this is it... Over and out._ "

* * *

In one of the corridors of the tower, a squad of soldiers and heavies were in defensive positions. The lights started to flicker in the hallway, some sparked until they died while others broke as if they were under pressure.

They could hear something creaking at the end of the hallway, as if it was something metal being bend open. Then they saw a two pairs of red eyes burning bright at the end of the hallway.

"OPEN FIRE!" one of the soldiers shouted.

The hallway flickered with gunfire. Heavy troopers were firing their machine guns at the 'man' ( _ **Rourke**_ ) while some of the infantry were shooting at what appeared to be a 'woman' ( _ **Jackie**_ ).

Rourke moved fast, ripping a large plate off the wall next to him and used it as a makeshift shield from the gunfire. He would then slowly walk forward with Jackie behind him. Once they were both close enough to the troopers, Jackie jumped on his shoulder and unleashed a screech that forced all the men to cover their ears.

Rourke then threw the dented plate at one of the heavy troopers, crushing him on impact. Rourke then swung his sword at the riflemen in front of them, slaughtering them without mercy.

When those in the back regained their composer to fight again, Jackie ran up to them and slashed their throats open like water balloons.

Right when they reached the next block, a large door came down to stop them. Jackie looked at the door and smile, "Easy." She then took in a large breath and then whaled a powerful sonic wave, blasting the large door down.

They slaughtered every soldier through 4 blocks of hallways. Once the troopers in this hallway were dealt with in a block, they continued on to the hanger bay.

* * *

Penny was helping some of the wounded onto the ship when she could hear the gunfire and the screaming resonating in the hallways. Bowie and his troops backed away form the door and sealed it. Then he blasted the controls to force it to lock itself.

Ensgin Verde looked over the planes they had to use, "There are 8 bullheads, that means we can save at least 80 peole, including pilots."

"You need to hurry, they're almost here." Bowie said when he pulled up the cameras that were still active. He could see a man and a woman carving through a hall way of troops, while on the opposite side of the base another man and woman are blasting through. The woman was blasting doors down with the shockwaves of her voice. And the third woman was all alone, but everytime he had a camera on her, the lense froze over and the feed was lost.

Then they head a loud bang on one of the doors, then they could see the same shaped dent in the door that was made at the front gate. The loud bang continued until the door was knocked out of the wall, allowing large enough for the near-7 ft. man and his siren friend through.

"FIRE!" Bowie ordered as he and his men engaged the intruders.

Some of the troopers with melee weapons charged at the woman while the man was being shot at. They failed to realize that she was much faster than she looked, and quickly wiped the floor with them. She first let out a short screech to catch them off guard, then she slashed at their limbs or going directly for the kill. There were even some that she killed with her own razor sharp teeth.

Rourke charged at the heavy troopers, the bullets flying at him barely making a dent in his armor, and he was running at them at top speed. He first swung his sword and cut one of the heavy troopers in half at the waist, then swung again and decapitated him for good measure. Then he swung at the second; cutting diagonaly, the trooper tried to block with his large weapon, but the word cut through it with no sign of slowing down.

Penny had enough of the chaos, she set the last wounded down and charged at the two dark figures.

She drew her blades and swung at both of them. Jackie ducked quickly before the blades cut her in half. While Rourke lifted his sword up to block all seven in a row, he was surprised to find himself having a hard time blocking her attack.

He resorted to using his strength to push her back away form him. Jackie swung her claws; she was looking to maim her and slow her down, but when her claw scratched Penny's skin, nothing came out. Penny quickly kicked her away, which made Jackie confused.

Jackie stood back up with confusion on her face, " _ **You should be covered in blood already, what are you?!**_ "

Penny didn't feel the need to respond, using Jackie's confusion to her advantage, she was able to get her when her guard was down and knock her to the back wall.

Rourke then swung his blade at her, only for him to be blocked by two floating blades that halted his sword. He looked closely and saw the near invisible strings at the ends of the swords, " _ **They're on strings… Of course.**_ " He then realized who they were fighting, " _ **So… This is the Atlas Android Locus mentioned a while back… Now THIS is an achievement I can be proud of. Too bad we have to destroy it.**_ "

Jackie rolled her eyes, " _ **Android or not, I'M GOING TO TEAR HER APART!**_ "

Both Jackie and Rourke ran at Penny on either side, and Penny's speed proved to be enough to block them both. She used her blades as a shield form behind while she used aggressively in front. She switched form left to right, attacking them both, blocking them both, the troops that weren't already on the bullheads were surprised she was doing so well. Bowie couldn't help but smile, " _And that's why she's a Sky Knight._ "

Bowie then noticed that he could see his breath; he turned to see that there was a trail of ice leading up to the control room of the hanger bay. He ran up there to find a woman standing over the shattered remains of frozen corpses. She was laying her hand on the console, freezing it over.

Bowie pulled out his rifle and put in a grenade in the grenade launcher attachment, "Ice this!"

He fired; the grenade flew through the air and went off when it hit the woman in the back. The explosion knocked her through the window and onto the floor below.

Bowie ran into the center and found that his grenade damaged some of the console. But luckily the main door control was still usable. He set it so that all hanger bay doors were to open, allowing all the planes to leave at once, "Major, GO NOW!"

Penny looked up to Bowie and then to the main doors. She pushed both Radcliffe and Jackie back against the wall, hard and then ran towards her bullhead. She then found herself stuck; she looked down to find ice forming at her feet. She looked to where the ice was coming from saw that it originated from a woman's hand that laid on the ground while she was on one knee.

Penny tried to pull herself out but found that the ice was thick. Jadis started to walk slowly towards Penny, with malicious intent to kill her. But before she could reach Penny, someone tackled her to the ground. Penny looked to find Bowie, "GET OUT OF HERE!"

Penny slashed the ice off her feet with her blades. She was about to help Bowie with his fight, but then another security door was forced open. Then a large man and a feathered woman walked through, the stood at the ready to attack.

Penny couldn't fight them all, and if they're right there, they can't launch. Penny lined all her blades in a row, then in a circle and had them turn. She then charged up her 'blade-cannon' and fired at the new arrivals.

The initial blast knocked them both back out of the room, allowing the ships time to leave. Penny then ran for one of the closest planes and jumped on right as it was departing. She gave one last look to Bowie before they departed, "Thank you, colonel…" the ship's doors closed and they flew out of the hanger bay.

The other 7 ships left the hanger bay along with them. Zyra looked up and saw them leaving, she quickly got up and flew after them as fast as she could. " ** _YOUR NOT GETTING AWAY THAT EASY!_** "

* * *

The 8 ships were flying through the snowstorm. Because of the storm, they were forced to fly slowly. Penny walked up to the cockpit, "How soon can you get us to Atlas?"

"We'll reach Mantle within the hour." The pilot said.

Penny started to relax, but then she heard a distress call on the radio. " _MAYDAY! MAYDAY! This is Falcon-5 we're under attack by some kind of aviary creature! It damaged our starboard engine! WE'RE GOING DOWN AAAH—!_ " The transmission went to static.

Penny looked out the window and saw that another plane was being attacked; she zoomed in with her eyes to see that it was that feathered woman she fought back at the base. "They followed us!" Penny then grabbed the radio, "All wings, go high altitude at max thrust, I don't think it can fly that fast."

The remaining 6 planes turned upwards and maxed out their thrusters.

Zyra flew to the lead plane and latched on before they went to max speed. She crawled while stabbing the hull towards the front of the plane. Penny then gave the order for the planes to level out.

Penny left the cockpit to check on the passengers and wounded, to see how they were doing after that risky maneuver.

After following Penny's order, the pilot looked up to find the pail-faced woman with red eyes staring back at him. She then broke open the window and jumped in.

Penny heard the window break and climbed up the vertical plane to find out what was going on. What she found was Zyra stabbing the pilot with some kind of black blade. Zyra then backed off to the window, " ** _Make sure the message is delivered, 'Major!'_** " She then jumped out of the window and flew back to Minas Ithil.

Penny quickly took the controls of the plane when the pilot fell out of his seat. She activated the temporary shield that replaces the window until a new one is put in. "Verde, get up here!"

Verde ran up, "What happened?"

"That bird woman stabbed him with something, take him to the back and treat his wound. I'll fly us back." Penny said as she sat in the pilot seat.

* * *

Meanwhile back at Minas Ithil, Bowie was against the wall, with a cold hand over his neck. He was beaten and bruised on his face, and when he was pulled off the wall and then slammed against it again. " ** _If you think you saved anyone your wrong._** "

He quickly pulled out a knife from under his chest plate and stabs Jadis on her arm, the blade barely scratching her icy skin.

Jadis couldn't help but smile at his attempt to hurt her, " _ **Pathetic toys…**_ "

Bowie responded by stabbing her in the shoulder with his signature knife, only for the blade wound to release super cooled air and froze his hand solid.

And just before he could scream at the pain, his throat froze before he could even groan. He froze solid into a statue. Jadis then pulled him off the wall and then through him against it, shattering him into pieces. " _ **Arrogant to the end.**_ " She then looked to see Rourke walk up to him, " _ **No offense.**_ "

" _ **None taken.**_ " Rourke then saw the cracked ice on her shoulder. Looking into the hole he could see the bone, " ** _You okay?_** "

Jadis looked at the hole and smiled, " _ **Huh, I almost forgot what it felt like...**_ "

" _ **What?**_ " Rourke asked with curiosity.

" _ **Pain... for so long my skin was so numb to the cold I had forgotten...**_ " Jadis then waved her hand over her shoulder and formed ice over the wound, the ice then turned into the same colored skin we saw there before.

Zyra dropped in from the hanger bay door, all the other Nazgul looked to her. " ** _Well?_** " Jadis asked.

" ** _The message is enroute to Atlas._** " Zyra said with a proud smile.

" _ **Then our work here is done.**_ " Radcliffe said as he sheathed his sword.

Jadis looked to both Rourke and Radcliffe, " _ **We will report back to the queen.**_ "

" _ **Try not to screw up your assignments boys.**_ " Jackie said with a playful smile.

Jadis walked over to the hanger bay door and looked at the view of the now empty fortress. Covered in both snow and blood. Rourke walked up to her, " _ **I'm planning to convert this into our new base… But Minas Ithil doesn't sound right for our use the queen's war.**_ "

" _ **How about, '**_ **Minas Morgul** _ **'?**_ " Jadis said as she looked at him.

Rourke made a big smile, " _ **I like it.**_ "

* * *

Penny's flight was enroute to the city of Osgiliath, where both General Ironwood and General Numenor were currently located. It was also the closest base that could give their wounded immediate care.

The six planes landed on the landing pads with medical personnel running up to them with stretchers. Penny made sure the pilot of her shuttle was placed on a stretcher and carried off to the hospital.

General Ironwood and Numenor walked up to her with surprised looks on their faces. "Major Polendina, what happened?" General Faramir Numenor asked.

"Generals… we were attacked… Minas Ithil is… the fortress is lost." Penny was having a hard time speaking. All the chaos, all the carnage, it was almost too much for her processors to handle.

General Ironwood then spoke, "Take it easy… How bad was it? How large was the hoard?"

Penny found her composure and stood up straight. She did her best to sound professional, but some of her emotions still came out, "It wasn't a hoard sirs. It was just five."

"Five Grimm took a fortress?" General Numenor asked with complete disbelief.

"They weren't Grimm. They almost looked… Human." Penny said with a bit of fear in her voice.

"Impossible… that fortress was designed to take on a class 3 Grimm hoard for a week. Are you telling me that five people took it in one day?" General Ironwood asked.

"I know it's hard to believe. Which is why I can show you." Penny said as she raised up her hand and pointed her index finger out. There, a plug extended from the tip of her finger, which would allow her to access any computer system.

* * *

In the infirmary, the soldier who was stabbed by the Harpy began to stir on his cot. While the initial wound was cleaned and treated, the medics had no idea that the wound had a second purpose. One of the nurses came into the room to check and see how the soldier was recovering, only to receive the shock of her life. The soldier started to shudder and spasm, almost like he was suffering a seizure.

"Sir, please try to relax," the nurse said as she tried to calm the struggling patient down before turning her head to the door, "I need help here, now!"

Suddenly the soldier grabbed her arms and pushed her aside with surprising strength. The nurse looked up and saw something was wrong with the soldier's face. Just then, the soldier reached out for the surgery table next to his cot…

* * *

General Numenor brought Ironwood and Penny to his office, giving Penny access to a holo-player. There, she projected some of the video feeds she recorded of the incident.

After a few hours of watching them, she ended the projection.

"By the gods…" Faramir said with fear in his voice. "Were those who I thought they were?"

"The Nazgûl. Qrow said they came back, but I didn't want to believe him." Ironwood said with anger in his voice as he punched down on the table.

Ironwood then looked to Penny, "How many survivors?"

"39, plus pilots, and 5 surviving wounded. Some were fatally injured and died on the way here." Penny said.

"39… out of 1,000? What about Colonel Bowie?" General Numenor asked.

"He stayed behind so that we could get out in time. He gave his life to save us." Penny said as she lowered her head, she then remembered what they said before. "Generals, if I may… Who are these 'Nazgûl'?"

Both Ironwood and Faramir looked at each other and nodded in agreement, "Major, what I am about to tell you is something you need to keep to yourself." General Numenor said.

"Understood, sir." Penny said as she stood up straight.

"The Nazgûl used to be Maidens and Star Knights of generations long past. Some of them betrayed their sacred vows to protect the world and sought personal gain… while some fell to darkness because they liked it." Ironwood said with a bit of anger in his voice.

"And now they're back… Why? Why would they show themselves now? It's been 2 years since they were last mentioned." General Numenor asked with uncertainty.

Before either Ironwood or Penny could attempt at an answer, an officer barged in, "Generals! There's something going on at the hospital!"

* * *

The two Generals and Major reached the hospital and saw that there was some kind of commotion happening inside the ER. They walked in to find police standing there with their handguns drawn.

"Stay back, General! He's swinging that knife like a wild man!" An officer said as he aimed his gun down the hallway.

The three looked down the hallway to find a man wearing an Atlas pilot suit. He was covered in blood. Penny recognized his face, it was her pilot, but something was different. There were black roots coming up his face and into his eyes. And his eyes, they were blood red and glowing.

He was holding a surgical knife in his hand. He looked almost entranced, dazed, and light on his feet. His eyes wandered the hallway, and then he gazed at the two generals. " ** _Lavor hauk nauk-avurned!_** "

 **(AN: Just a friendly note, I used the "Black Speech Translator" for those words. Tolkien accurate!)**

He then charged at the crowd, forcing the police to react and fire on him. He was shot dead to the ground, ending the horror, for some.

Penny walked over to the dead body of her pilot, she rolled him over and found that the stab wound he suffered from that feathered woman had formed black roots all over his body.

"What could have done this?" Penny asked with horror in her voice.

"A Morgul blade…" Ironwood said as he knelt down to see for himself. "What did he say? I didn't recognize the language."

"I think I know." General Numenor said from a distance.

Penny and Ironwood looked to find Faramir standing at the doorway of an ER. When they reached the doorway, what they found was terrifying: doctors, nurses, guards, all of them dead on the ground, with the floor drenched in a large pool of their blood. And on the wall opposite from the door, there was large writing across it written in blood, "SHE HAS RETURNED"

"And now we know… They came back, because she is back." Ironwood said with as calm of a voice as he could muster.

Penny then began to feel that chill run down her synthetic spine again. "Why would she come back now, though?"

* * *

In a little house in Patch, Ruby walked into her living room and found her uncle sitting on the couch. He saw Ruby come in and waved her off, but when he looked down at the ring on a chain around her neck he spat out his whiskey.

Ruby backed up in shock. She'd never seen her uncle do a spit take before.

"Ruby… Where did you get that ring?"

* * *

 _ **DUN DUN DUUUUUUUUUUUN!**_

 **AN: Thank you all SO MUCH for being patient with me!**

 **I know it has been hard to wait two whole weeks for a new chapter, but I promise you, the wait will be worth it.**

 **I have based all five Nazgul off of some of the villains in the past:**  
 **Winter Witch:** _Jadis_ , also known as the White Witch from Narnia _(Breakawayfan and I couldn't think of anyone better to take this position.)_  
 **Summer Banshee:** _Jackie_ , I based her on Jack the Ripper. _(I once heard the theory that he was really a woman, so I felt it was a good tie in for the story.)_  
 **Spring Harpy:** _Zyra_ , from League of Legends. _(She was Nightengale's suggestion, and when I looked her up, I felt that she fit perfectly.)_  
 **Mantel Knight:** _Rourke_ , from Atlantis the Lost Empire. _(He was one of my favorite villains in Disney)_  
 **Vacuo Knight:** _Radcliffe_ , from Pocahontas. _(Although I didn't consider him as an intelligent villain, he was very arrogant and self justified for his actions. Brakeawayfan and I felt he was perfect for the role.)_

 **Also, Colonel Bowie was based off of James Bowie, one of the Texas officers who died at the Alamo. I chose him because I liked the name, and I felt that he would have fought just as hard to ensure his people's survival.**

* * *

 _ **(On a side note, Paul Jordan, I would appreciate it if you stop filling up my reviews with the same question repeatedly. You did it in the last story, and I would like it if you don't do it in this one.)**_

* * *

 **Anyway, I hope I didn't scare you guys too much...** **;)**  
 **And as always, ARKOS!**


	4. Answers to an Age-old Question (Updated)

**Answers to an Age-old Question (Updated)**

* * *

 **AN: Now to continue on from our last cliffhanger.**

 **I would like to give a GREAT thanks to both my Beta-Readers/Partners in story writing, Nightengale4698 and Breakawayfan!**

 **(UPDATE: This is a more updated version of this chapter. Normaly I would ignore such criticism, but Guest Guy had a fair point that I should go on.**  
 **Guest Guy, if you have criticism that you want to share, don't use a guest address, tell me yourself, and if you don't like how I'm doing the story, then don't read it.)**

 **Now, on to the story!**

* * *

After the party at Vale, Qrow felt like stay home for the next week. After hearing Ruby got Thorn, he wanted to help teach her how to use the knife properly.

He often enjoyed watching the news; even though half of what they said was BS, he liked to laugh at he knew wasn't true. He could hear his niece walking in from her room. Just then he took in a sip from his flask when he felt that the alcohol was wearing off.

When Ruby walked in, he looked to Ruby with a smile while his mouth was still around the flask's opening. His smile vanished when he looked at the chain and saw what was at the end of it. The moment Qrow's eyes met with the ring, he saw flashes of images. Some were of a flaming eye, while others were of a smiling pale-faced woman. The moment the images went away, Qrow then spat out his whiskey out of complete shock.

"Ruby, where did you get that ring?" Qrow asked as he coughed and wiped his mouth off. Ruby shrugged her shoulders in response.

"I found it in a secret compartment when I accidentally dropped Mom's jewelry box," Ruby answered. Suddenly Qrow stood up and put the lid back on his flask, not taking his eyes off the ring hanging from his niece's neck.

 _Where the hell could she have gotten something like that?_ Qrow thought as he put his flask in his coat.

"When did you find it?" he asked.

"The other day when I dropped the box," Ruby explained, "I was going to try it on, but then thought it wouldn't look good on me."

 _At least she thought before acting this time,_ Qrow mused, knowing full well of Ruby's tendency to think with her heart instead of her brain, "Has anyone else seen it yet?"

"No, just you," was Ruby's answer. Qrow then walked over to the window and closed the blinds, slightly darkening the living room.

"Ruby, I know this sounds strange, but I need you to keep that ring hidden away," the Old Crow told Ruby before walking toward his weapon, which was leaning by the front door. Ruby, however, was completely confused by her uncle's surprisingly cryptic words.

"Wait, what do you mean, and where are you going?" the Crimson Reaper asked.

"Something's come up, and I need to look into it," Qrow replied.

"Where? I don't understand what's going on," Ruby said. Qrow stopped just as he was about grab the doorknob.

"I don't know what's going on either, Ruby, but I need you to _promise_ me that you'll keep that ring out of sight," Qrow instructed as he saw the confusion and slight fear in his niece's eyes, "Your mother kept it hidden for a reason, kiddo. Until I know more, you need to do the same, okay?" Ruby blinked twice before nodding her head.

"Okay, I'll do it," she said, "Good luck." Qrow smirked.

"You too, kid," he replied, "Remember, keep it perfectly hidden." With that, Qrow stepped out the door and brought out his scroll. Opening his list of contacts, he ran through the numbers until he found who he was looking for.

"Glynda, it's Qrow," he said, "I need you to book a ticket for the next airship heading to Atlas."

 _"Qrow, why do you need…?"_ Glynda started to say before Qrow cut her off.

"Don't ask why, just do it!" he snapped, "It's important." Glynda seemed to sense the urgency in his voice, because her voice sounded shakier than it was a few seconds ago.

 _"Alright, just be careful,"_ the psychic Huntress said. With that, Qrow ended the call and saw that an itinerary had been sent to his scroll. With that, Qrow hopped onto his motorcycle and sped off to Patch's airport.

* * *

Ironwood adjusted his tie as he leaned back slightly in his chair. Ever since the attack on Minas Ithil, he had been writing condolence letters to the families of the soldiers who lost their lives in the attack. He had just finished writing another letter to add to the countless numbers when he suddenly heard the door to his office slam open. Looking up, the general of Atlas saw Qrow Branwen himself marching right toward him, with an unusually focused look on his face.

"What do you want, Qrow?" Ironwood asked, "I'm busy enough as it is, and I can't afford any distractions right now." What came next caught him by surprise.

"I need access to your archives," Qrow replied in a rather demanding tone, "Old stuff, from the Great War to now." James raised an eyebrow at the Huntsman's request.

"That area is restricted, Qrow," the general said.

"I _know_ it's restricted, James!" Qrow snapped, "That's why I'm asking _you_ personally!" Ironwood looked into Qrow's eyes and saw something that he never saw before: anxiety.

"Qrow, what's going on?" Ironwood asked. Qrow took a deep breath before responding.

"I don't know," he said, "I think I could find out in your archives, but I won't if you keep me out. You know that I wouldn't be here asking _you_ of all people if it wasn't important." Ironwood rested his chin on his hands as he looked at his desk, a contemplative look etched on his face. After a moment of thought, Ironwood looked back up at Qrow.

"I'll give you the access you need, but on one condition," the general said, "I want you to explain everything you learn to me once you've finished."

"Deal," Qrow replied, "I'm also going to need a translator. My Old Atlesian isn't as sharp as it used to be."

"I'm sure Winter can find someone who can help with that," Ironwood said.

"Just tell her to send whoever she chooses to meet me directly in the archives," Qrow added, "I'll see if I can find anything on my own in the meantime." Ironwood nodded.

"If that's all, I need to get back to work," Ironwood said, "The condolence letters aren't going to write themselves."

"Thanks again, James," Qrow said before turning around and walking out of the office.

* * *

Qrow took a sip of his whiskey and looked down at the files he was reading. It had been several hours and the most he could translate were just old accounts of various Sky Knights. As he put his flask down, Qrow heard the door opening. Looking over his shoulder, the Huntsman saw a surprisingly familiar face standing in the entrance.

"Weiss Schnee," he said, "When Ironwood said Winter would help find someone trustworthy, I should've guessed it would be you." Weiss suppressed a scoff as she walked over to him.

"You wanted someone who could translate Old Atlesian and was completely trustworthy, so here I am," the Heiress stated matter-of-factly as she took a seat next to him. Qrow handed her a small stack of files.

"Start with these," he instructed.

"What are we even looking for?" Weiss asked as she peeked into one of the files.

" **Isildur's Bane** , along with any information we have on it," Qrow answered. Weiss felt her stomach turn to lead. Her mother had told her the story of Isildur's Bane many times when she was a little girl, but she didn't think it was actually real.

"Why are we looking up an old myth?" she asked.

"I'll let you know when you tell me the details about it," Qrow said. With that, the two set to work, Weiss reading the files aloud and translating them while Qrow wrote them in a notepad that he purchased before heading to the archives. After several hours of research, it felt like the two were hitting a dead end, when Weiss suddenly found something.

"I think I found it," she said before opening the file and beginning to read, "The following describes the account of Isildur Numenor, Star Knight of Mantle, and the finding of the Ring of Darkness. _**'The ring of Salem has come to me, and I will make it an heirloom of my Kingdom. No one in my bloodline will ever harm the Ring, for it is precious to me, though it comes at the cost of great pain.'**_ " Suddenly Weiss' scroll began to vibrate. Looking at the screen, the heiress saw that there was a specific time on the clock, and then something clicked inside of her head.

"Oh crap! The concert is about to start, and I'm a part of it!" she panicked. Qrow put his pen down and stretched his arms.

"Go on," he said, "I can wait until you get back." Weiss shot up from her chair and practically sprinted to the door.

"Thanks. I'll try not to be too long!" she called on her way out. Once she was gone, Qrow opened his flask and took a long sip as he began thinking over everything they had learned.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha were in the 'Commander's quarters' of Jaune's shuttle. While Jaune was putting on his jacket, Pyrrha had already finished putting on her dress.

Her dress a solid red with gold markings along the edges and a bit of a gold sparkle down skirt's length. She had her usual tiara headpiece on, and had her hair in her usual ponytail.

She looked over to Jaune and see that he was having a hard time with his bowtie. "Having a little trouble there?" She asked as she walked over to him.

Jaune fidgeted and then gave up, "I hate these things!" Without asking for it, Pyrrha helped him tie it.

Jaune looked down at Pyrrha and smiled, "When did you learn to tie a bow?"

"There were times my mother would help my father with them whenever they would go to black tie events. She taught me as a precaution, saying 'it's best to know incase they don't'." She finished tying the bow and then kissed him on the cheek.

Jaune smiled at her kiss and then hugged her lightly, not wanting to endure her wrath by making wrinkles in her dress. Once he let go, he walked over and picked up his side arm, "You think they'll mind if I take this too?"

Pyrrha looked and gave him a slight nod to the side, "I doubt they'd hassle you over a side arm. Half the people who are coming are military."

Jaune smiled at her and then placed the pistol in the holster under the jacket. He then looked at his date and smiled, "We should do this more often…"

Pyrrha smirked; she then walked up to him and pulled him down to whisper in his ear, "Save it for later." She then kissed him on the cheek again and then walked toward the door.

Jaune smirked back and followed. Once they exited the room, they walked over to the exit ramp of the shuttle. The pilot and copilot of the shuttle stood at attention on the ramp, "Enjoy the concert, Commander."

"I will, you two can have the night off, have fun." Jaune said with a smile.

The copilot smiled, "Will do, thank you, sir."

As Jaune and Pyrrha walked off the ramp, Pyrrha put her arm under Jaune's right arm. She smiled at him as they walked away from the ship. "You're being very generous."

"It only seamed right. I can't be the only one having fun tonight… speaking of which." Jaune said with slight surprise.

Pyrrha looked to see what he was talking about and was surprised to find a man in a tuxedo holding a sign that said "Arc + Nikos", standing in front of a black limo outside the airfield. Jaune knew immediately whom it belonged to when he saw the Schnee symbol on the door.

Jaune waved off the driver and let him know they were coming. As they walked up to the driver he opened the door for them both, "Mr. Arc, Ms. Nikos, welcome to Atlas. Miss Schnee thanks you for coming. She would have come herself, but unfortunately she had been called away before the concert. She wanted me to inform you that she will meet you there after the concert and take you to the Atlas Fundraiser."

"On to the concert then." Jaune said with a smile. Pyrrha sat in the limo first, and then Jaune climbed in.

"Right away, sir." The driver said as he closed the door behind him.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha sat at one of the high-rises to the left of the stage. Once everyone was seated and the band below tuned their instruments, the curtain dropped and the lights went dim.

A single spot light shined at the curtain, then it went up to reveal Weiss in a dress.

Weiss then began to sing with all her heart and passion. Jaune had heard her songs before, but this was the first time he saw it live. He could feel a bit of that joy he used to get when he'd listen to Weiss sing. It reminded him of how things used to be.

Even some of the early academy years came to mind, their first fight with a Death Stalker and Nevermore, meeting all the members of RWBY and his own team and taking his first stand against someone who stood over him. These days he and Cardin are friends, but his stand against Cardin always stood out as the first time he put his team before himself.

Pyrrha remembered the time when Jaune mentioned her singing. She could see the happiness in his eyes. Little by little, she could see him improving and getting better. Often people wondered why SHE wasn't a nervous wreck or had PTSD, but every time she was asked, she had no answer. To the best of her knowledge, every time she tries to think of a reason why, Jaune would come to mind.

As the song came close to a close, Weiss ended it out on a high note.

 _ **"I am not your pet,**_

 _ **Not another thing you own.**_

 _ **I was not born guilty of your crimes,**_

 _ **Your riches and your influence can't hold me anymore.**_

 _ **I won't be possessed,**_

 _ **Burdened by your royal test.**_

 _ **I will not surrender, this life is mine."**_

And with the last lyric sang and the last of the music resonating throughout the theater, the audience applauded. Jaune couldn't help but stand and applaud his friend for a good song.

Pyrrha did the same, she then tapped Jaune's shoulder, "You were right, her songs are amazing!" she had to yell over the applause in order for him to hear her. He smiled back at her in agreement.

* * *

(About an hour later)

Weiss brought Jaune and Pyrrha to Schnee manor, where the fundraiser was being held. Walking in, Jaune admired the sight of all the paintings.

Jaune looked around and saw all the people, the wealthy and the highest ranked of Atlas, all in one room together. Jaune had never felt more like an outsider than ever, at least Pyrrha was there to help share that felling.

"Guys, come see this one, it was made yesterday." Weiss said as she led the two to a large mural that detailed Beacon Academy during the battle.

Jaune looked at the plaque in front, it said "The Battle of the Five Armies".

"The guy who made it said it was a way of honoring the soldiers who fought there and of the unity between Vale and Atlas that day." Weiss said with slight joy in her voice.

"He certainly did a good job, don't you agree, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked, she looked to him and saw that he was staring at it.

To Jaune, he was looking at that mural as if he was there right now: the clashes of metal blades and armor, explosions of gunfire, and the screams of the soldiers fighting for their lives. He was then shook back to reality and looked down to Pyrrha, "Huh, what?"

"I said the painting is a good way to honor the soldiers that day, right?" Pyrrha tried to help.

Jaune nodded, "Yes, it is a good way to honor them."

"You know Jaune, I appreciate you saying yes to coming to this." Weiss said with a smile.

"Well, I always liked your music, thanks for giving me a chance to see it live." Jaune smiled at her.

Before Weiss could say anything else, her father walked up to the trio. "Enjoying yourself, Commander?"

Jaune looked to him with a slight smile, "Yes. I enjoyed Weiss' concert thoroughly."

Jacque smiled, as best he can with that bushy mustache. "I'm glad to hear it. I wanted your visit to be spectacular. So, how do you like the Fundraiser?"

Jaune looked around, "So far I like it, and seeing as how all these paintings look, I'm sure there's one for somebody here. And I also appreciate that you would be donating the money for this to Vale's reconstruction."

"Anything to help our allies." Jacque said with a prideful smile. "You know Commander, I would be willing to help with the rebuilding of the Sky Knights, providing a good deal on Dust prices."

Jaune felt a bit peeved that this was brought up again, "Apologies, Mr. Schnee, but I was under the impression that I, and my girlfriend, were invited here to have fun. Not to talk about work." Jaune gave him a look that indicated that he was done talking about this.

"Of course…" Jacque said with a bit of a chill run down his spine, "We can speak about it another time."

"Much appreciated." Jaune said with a more relaxed face.

Jacque then walked away with a bit of fear in his step. He even ran into one of the people carrying food and made him drop his tray.

Weiss, Pyrrha and Jaune all snickered at the accident. Weiss then looked to Jaune, "How did you do that? I've never seen him get scared away like that."

"A little something my sister taught me when it came to pushy business men who didn't get the idea. Never thought I'd need it." Jaune said with a smirk.

The next person to come up to them appeared to look exactly like Weiss and her father. He was a young boy; he looked to be round about the same age as Ruby. Jaune remembered Weiss mentioning him before.

"Whitley right? You're Weiss' little brother." Jaune asked with a smile.

Whitley stood with a straight posture and held out his hand to Jaune, "Whitley Schnee." He and Jaune shook hands, "A pleasure to meet the 'Hero of Vale' in person."

Jaune smiled at the name, "'Hero of Vale'… That's a new one. Normally it's just Star Knight."

"Well, without your timely intervention, Vale would've been destroyed and Atlas severely weakened." Whitley then pointed to the mural as he finished, "You unknowingly saved both kingdoms in the battle."

Jaune looked to at the part of the painting that showed the rest of 'The Company', and then looked to Whitley, "Indeed, but I shouldn't have all the credit."

Whitley nodded, "Of course. My dear sister deserves her share of the take as well."

"And Pyrrha." Weiss said, "Without her, we never would have been able to take the Spire."

Whitley looked to Pyrrha with a rather disappointed look on his face. "If what I heard about the battle was true, she was being held hostage throughout most of it."

Jaune started to feel a bit agitated, "But she still helped in the end." Pyrrha rested her hand on Jaune's shoulder, "Jaune, it's ok."

Whitley wasn't dumb; he knew when he was no longer welcome, "Well, in any case, it was a honor to meet you. Now if you will excuse me, Father needs to speak with me about something." Whitley then walked towards his father in the crowd.

Pyrrha looked to Jaune, "Are you ok?"

Jaune nodded his response. Weiss walked up to them both, "I'm sorry about my brother. He's always been a jerk."

As the voices of the crowd began to grow, could hear them talk about business, problems that so trivial that shouldn't be brought up at all. Then when he heard a voice say his name, and then heard what followed.

"I mean, just _look_ at him. He's a lost cause," A woman said.

"He's a Star Knight. He saved our troops at Beacon," Another person said to the woman.

"And he's the one who started the fight between us and Vale in the first place…" The woman spat.

Both Pyrrha and Weiss turned to the woman who was speaking. She was speaking to other rich people and high-ranking officials. Pyrrha had seen her kind before; she normally called them "trophy wives".

"…Over something so juvenile as 'young love'." She continued. "And the fact of the matter, he got hundreds of our soldiers killed. If you ask me, he never should have lived after that battle, let alone get knighted as a reward."

"SHUT UP!" Weiss and Pyrrha practically shouted in unison.

The chatter in the room died in an instant. "You have no idea what he had been through, what we ALL went through!" Pyrrha said with pure rage in her voice.

"Excuse me?!" the woman asked in an arrogant tone.

"You're all just standing around talking about nothing! All you can think about is your hair, your money, your stupid problems that have nothing to do with the rest of the world!" Weiss shouted. Her anger about this was more than just about her disrespecting Jaune, she was fed up with all the crap rich people couldn't keep their mouths shut about.

Weiss' father walked up to her and grabbed her arm. "Weiss, that's enough."

"Let go of me!" Weiss said as she jerked her arm in an attempt to get him to let go.

"You're embarrassing the family." Jacque said with a hiss.

"I said LET GO!" She pulled again and got out of his grasp, then tripped on her dress and fell over.

Pyrrha tried to catch her but missed, and when Weiss' hands hit the floor, a glyph appeared on the ground. Her summoning glyph appeared in front of them. Jaune turned around to see a pure white Boarbatusk standing in front of him. The beast had its eyes set on the woman and charged at her.

The woman screamed in terror as the beast leaped up at her. Before it landed, it was then flung above her by a bullet and landed on the opposite side of the room. Everyone then looked to see where the bullet came from and found the Star Knight in the room with his gun drawn and smoke coming out of the barrel.

The woman then looked to the soldiers around her and pointed at Jaune, "ARREST HIM! HE ALMOST KILLED ME! THEY BOTH DID!"

Jaune holstered his pistol and helped Weiss stand up.

The woman looked around to see that none of the officers or soldiers even made a move. "Why are you just standing around?! He's insane! They both are!"

"He just saved your life. Be thankful that you aren't under arrest for showing your mouth off." The trio turned to see that Winter was there, in a dress similar to Weiss'.

Jaune looked to her and nodded a 'thank you'. Winter did the same.

Pyrrha may have been surprised that Weiss could create a boar, but she wasn't that surprised that Jaune could shoot that well. Once Weiss was standing, Jaune took both her hands and looked her in the eye. "I appreciate you inviting us, I really enjoyed the concert."

Weiss nodded with a sad smile. She then gave him a hug, "I'm sorry this happened."

Once they broke the hug, Jaune looked to Jacque, "Mr. Schnee, we will have to speak about our business transaction another time."

Jaune didn't even wait for a response and simply looked to Pyrrha and held out her hand, once she took it he whispered, "Lets go."

Pyrrha nodded and took his hand. They then proceeded to walk towards the exit and were met by two guards at the door. The guards stood aside and held their rifles at attention, in respect to them both. They either had a friend or family member in the Battle or were there themselves. After they passed the soldiers, they exited the building without another word.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha reached the ship and walked inside. The pilots were already inside waiting for them. Once onboard, Jaune ordered them to take off and fly back to Vale.

After the plane took off, they flew on a steady cruising course straight to Vale's boarders. Jaune sat at his desk, his head being held by his arms as his elbows were on the desk. Pyrrha walked towards him, she picked up his tux jacket off the floor and folded it in her hands. "Jaune, do you… want to talk about it?"

She got no response from him; he remained quiet. She hadn't seen him like this in a long while, not since before she decided to move in with him.

"What is there to say?" Jaune asks.

Pyrrha walked over to him and rested her hand on his left shoulder, "Whatever would help."

She could see his hands tense up as he gripped his own hair and then sit up, "Ok… She was right. I have no right to be a Star Knight."

Pyrrha then gave Jaune a hard look, "Jaune."

Jaune would give her one right back, "I almost started a war between Vale and Atlas, Pyrrha! That's not something a Star Knight does. It goes against everything they are meant for." He then stood up form his chair and tried to walk away.

She stopped him by grabbing his shoulder again, "That wasn't YOU! That was the stone! And you destroyed it." She then walked around him to look him in the eye, "You went into that fight and turned it on it's head. You saved those soldiers, and those townspeople from slaughter. You are a good man." She said as she placed a hand on his cheek.

Jaune put his hand over hers, "You wouldn't say that if you knew how far I fell, even without the stone." He tried to turn his head away.

Pyrrha used the hand that was on his cheek to pull him back, "Then tell me… I know there's something that's been eating at you for a long while now… I've been patient… I've waited until you decided to tell me… but you need to say I now or you never will."

Jaune opened his eyes and nodded to her, "Ok…" Jaune then walked to the bed and sat down at the edge. Pyrrha remained where she was standing; she placed his jacket on the table next to her and stood patiently until he started.

"It was about… I think maybe 4 to 5 months after you were reported dead…" She could see him tense up at the mention of her supposed 'death'. Jaune continued, "I had already started the training with Carol at that point. By that time I was getting stronger… but I wasn't getting any better…"

"At what?" Pyrrha asked.

"Anything…" Jaune said bluntly, "My swordsmanship didn't improve, my stamina wasn't any better… and my Star Knight abilities weren't anywhere close to be properly controlled." Jaune then looked to the window, "It was like that for more than 2 months… I felt that I failing… And then I started thinking, 'I don't belong here,' 'I'm not meant for stuff like this,' and 'I don't deserve these powers.'" Jaune looked back to her, "Then came a day when I thought, 'It doesn't have to be ME.' My great grandmother was a Star Knight, so could Carol… but that would only work if there were no male members left in the family…"

Pyrrha could see where he was leading on with this, _"So this is what she meant…"_

 **(Pyrrha's Flashback)**

Pyrrha's aura clone looked to her, " **There came a day when he thought about taking his own life…** "

 **(End of flashback)**

Pyrrha remained silent; she couldn't interrupt him. If she did, it wouldn't help.

Jaune took her silence as her way of saying she understood, so he continued. "After that… I wrote a note, explaining to her that it wasn't her fault and that she was a better option than me."

He then pulled out his pistol from the holster that laid flat on the bed. "I walked out to the firing range, I didn't talk to anybody, I didn't look at anyone… I just looked at that range and walked straight… When I got there, there was already a gun waiting." Jaune then held up his pistol, "It was this one… and RIGHT when my hand touched that grip… I heard her, for the first time."

 **(Jaune's Flashback)**

His hand touched the grip, and he heard a familiar voice to his right. " **I think it's about time you broadened you arsenal.** "

Jaune turned to find his partner standing there. Wearing the exact same armor she always wore in combat. And in that instant, all the fear, sadness and guilt he felt moments ago vanished.

 **(End of flashback)**

"Even then I knew it wasn't you… But… seeing your face again, was enough…" Jaune said with a bit of sadness choking at his throat. "Strangely enough, it was that same day I learned I was a great marksman with this pistol. I hit every target dead center on that range."

"And now you use it… Why did you keep it? And repair it?" Pyrrha asked.

"To remind me of my deepest shame… that I almost took the easy way out…" Jaune said with anger.

"I don't think it was your deepest shame… I think that was one of your best moments… You DIDN'T follow through with it, Jaune. You could have still done it when she appeared, but you didn't." She started to speak more aggressively, "The fact that you're here now proves that I'm right!"

She then walked up to him and took his head in her arms and rested it against her chest. He wrapped his arms around her waist. She could feel tears dripping through her dress, "We both went through our own form of hell in that time, and we came back stronger…"

Jaune pulled his head out of her grasp; he looked up at her with a bit of confusion. "How do you do it? How do you hide your pain?" Pyrrha gave a sad look as he continued, "I know that you're as scarred as I am from… that 'hell'…"

Pyrrha sat down next to him, resting her hand on his lap, "To be honest… I've had years of practice on hiding it…"

Jaune looked at her with a bit of confusion, "How?"

"Well… ever since I went to Signal Academy, and became known as the 'Invincible Girl', everyone started looking at me with inspiration." Pyrrha looked away, thinking back her early days of her school carrier. " 'To be a Nikos is to be strong, fast and fearless.' That's what my father used to say. So that meant I would have to put on a brave face whenever people looked at me. It became so often that I would have to hide my true fear or worry that it became natural."

"Are you doing it now?" Jaune asked.

Pyrrha turned to him, smirked a bit when she saw him smile. She then 'love-tapped' his shoulder, "No… I don't have to do it with you…"

Jaune's smile vanished as he looked to her, "So… you are scared from all of it…"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Pyrrha said with a bit of a contempt face. "They tried to torture me. Repeatedly. With blades, needles, they even made Emerald try to mess with my head."

"Tried?" Jaune asked with a bit of confusion. He never asked her what her experience was like when she was held prisoner at the Spire, thinking that she wouldn't want to talk about it.

"Well… Remember that kiss we had, back at the tower?" Pyrrha asked.

Jaune could never forget that night… it was the night his whole world turned upside down, in more than one-way.

"Well… we exchanged aura in some way… maybe has something to do with your Star Knight aura. And while mine that was in you created my 'clone'… yours kept me safe from being tortured." Pyrrha said with a bit of a smile. "They cut, it healed. They injected drugs, nothing happened."

"What happened when Emerald tried to mess with your head?" Jaune was a bit surprised to hear that his aura was so resilient.

"You gave her a headache." She chuckled a bit, and he did the same. She then put both her hands on his right hand, "My point is, you saved me, in more ways than one, Jaune… Just as much as I, and my clone, did. And while I missed two years of my life, you helped me get it back for the past two years…"

Jaune then hugged her, he felt a bit more relaxed than earlier. "And I'd do it again, if it meant you stay with me."

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile as she held him tight. They held on for about two minutes until she let go and stood up from the bed. She then leaned in and kissed his forehead, she then said, "I'm going to take a shower."

He nodded in understanding; she'll need on after he almost soaked her with his tears. She walked away and stopped right at the door, she quickly turned around and gave him a seductive smile and said, "And you're going to join me."

Jaune smiled back, "Well, it is later, after all…"

* * *

About two hours into the night, Jaune and Pyrrha were sleeping in the bed together. Jaune was on the right side, while Pyrrha was on the left.

Pyrrha's eyes began to tighten, she started to hear the echos of gunfire, metal crashing, and people screaming.

In her dream she was back at the Spire, being forced to watch the battle as it played out. Hundreds of Atlas and Vale soldiers fighting for their lives. The City of Vale on fire with thousands of people screaming and fighting.

Tears began to wellup in her eyes, she started to shift hard in her sleep.

In her shifting, she kicked Jaune in the shin. The sudden kick and quick pain woke him up. He sat up and looked to find Pyrrha moving around sharply. He moved over to take her arm.

In her dream she tried to look away, but that black armored mercinary, Locus, forced her to look. She started to cry and scream at the chaos before her. She was then suddenly snapped out of that harsh dream and found herself looking up at two blue eyes.

Jaune managed to wake her up by lifting her up and shaking her shoulders. Once her eyes opened he knew that it was over. She began to cry as she wraped her arms around him, as best she could in that position, and hold him tight.

This wasn't the first time she had a nightmare, but this was the first time it was so intense. Jaune held her close as he felt her cry into his shirt. All he could do was hold her, just as she did for him not long ago… and for her, it was enough

* * *

The next morning came fast for Qrow. He spent the hours trying to read some of the writing. Although he couldn't read the words properly, he was able to find a drawing of the Ring and see the similarities to the one he saw on Ruby.

But he did remember reading old articles that told of a time when some fame-grabbers who tied to sell false rings. There were dozens of them; most were destroyed while others were lost to the public eye.

If what Ruby had was real, Qrow had to be sure.

Qrow looked up to find Weiss coming down the spiral stairs of the archives. "Hey, how was the concert?"

She looked at him as she was going down the stairs, "It was good… but what came after was a disaster…"

She reached the bottom of the stares and walked up to the table Qrow was sitting at. She found it odd that he was drinking coffee. For as long as she's known him, he never drank coffee.

"What happened?" Qrow asked after taking a sip.

"I don't want to talk about it… Did you find anything since last night?" Weiss asked as she looked over his notes.

"No… Still can't make heads or tails of this writing. I saved the spot you were in last night, could you finish the scripture?" Qrow asked as he handed her the book with the bookmark.

Weiss opened the book and opened it at the bookmark. There she trailed her finger down the writing until she found where she left off. "Lets see… ah, here we are, ' _ **…for it is precious to me, though it comes at the cost of great pain. Not long after I took it, the markings started to fade away, taking their secret with them. A secret that only accessible through flames.'**_ What does that even mean?"

Qrow stood up, "It means that they can only be revealed if flames touch the ring." Qrow then finished the coffee in his much and then picked up his weapon off the table behind him. "Thanks Weiss, I have what I need."

"Wait, whoa! That's it?" Weiss tried to make sense of what was going on, "What was the point of this? Are you telling me you found something like this?"

Qrow stopped right before he reached the stares, he then turned back to Weiss, "To be honest, I am not sure… For now, keep all this to yourself, don't even tell your sister. Ok?"

She could see the fear and desperation in his eyes as he asked her, she agreed by nodding to him. Qrow then ran as fast as he could up the stairs.

* * *

Qrow walked into Ironwood's office, the General was in the middle of a meeting with Faramir and Winter Schnee.

"Guys. Winter if you don't mind I need to speak to the generals alone." Qrow said with an out of breath voice.

"Whatever you have to say to us, you can say to the Colonel." Faramir said with pride.

Qrow rolled his eyes, "Alright… I think I found Salem's Ring."

Silence took the room. Ironwood, Faramir, even Winter were dead silent. Faramir was the first to speak, "How do you know it's real?"

"I don't... but I have a feeling I know where it is." Qrow said as he took out his flask and started drinking.

"Where is it?" Winter asked.

"I can't tell you." Qrow said as he put his flask away.

"What? WHY?!" Winter asked with an agitated voice. It came no surprise Qrow would talk to her like this, but this was important.

"Because the moment it gets out to even the military, then SHE will know." Qrow said with a bit of anger in his voice. "Just be glad I told you at all…"

Ironwood and Faramir saw the logic in his plan; as much as they hated it, he was right.

Qrow turned around and walked away, "Where are you going?" Ironwood asked.

"There's someone else who knows where it is… Hopefully I'll find him before she does." Qrow says as he exits the room.

Once the door closed, Ironwood turned on his scroll and made a call. "This is General Ironwood. Qrow Branwen needs an immediate flight to Vale; he will be at the airfield soon. Thank you."

Faramir turned to Ironwood, "Now it makes sense… The only reason she would make a move now, is because she feels it's out there again."

"What do we do?" Winter asked.

"Prepare for war…" Ironwood said with a very serious voice.

* * *

A few days had passed since Qrow arrived in Vale. He was thankful that Ironwood was nice enough to let him use one of his planes.

Qrow had been searching up and down the mountain region, looking for Gollum's cave. Summer had told him a long time ago, where she found him. He was the last known being to have the Ring, and if Summer took it from him, then he might know where she came from.

Qrow then found a cave leading into the roots of the mountain. He looked down to find blood on the ground. Qrow ran inside to find a dark cave full of fish skeletons and pools of water.

He looked around to find scratch marks along the walls, and several stalagmites cut in half or broken. Then he found some pools of purple liquid. He put his finger in one and sniffed it. _"Poison…"_

Whoever did this was fast and had some kind of poisonous weapon.

Qrow then ran back outside and followed the rail of blood that led him inside earlier. The trail led to a dirt path with tier marks. Whoever did this did it days ago, and was long gone by now.

Qrow's scroll began vibrating. He pulled it out to see that the number was blocked. "Hello?"

His eyes widened when the caller answered, "Oh, hi! Jimmy sent you what I found, eh?"

He started to walk back and forth, "Yes, I understand. And I know where it is. But Gollum was taken. How bad? My god… Then they know it's there… Well I'm not entirely sure it's the Ring… but if it is, I'll get it to Rivendell. Ok, I will. Oum be with us all, my lady."

Qrow closed the scroll; he turned west and ran as fast as he could. He then quickly turned into a crow and flew as fast as his wings could carry him. As he flapped his wings, he prayed to high heaven that he was wrong.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the land of Morodor, the dark tower of Barad Dur was echoing with the screams of a creature.

"AAAGH! AAAAH!" the screams were almost blood curtling, "PATCH! AAAAH! ROSE!"

Right then, the newely rebuilt and refurbished fortress of Minas Morgul opened it's gates, and three horseback riders road out. The three maidens, wearing cloak of their own colors rode out to the south. Jadis had eyes of pure malevolence as she rode ahead of the others.

* * *

Ruby and Yang had the house to themselves for the week. Taiyang was so busy with work at the Combat school that they needed him till the end of the week.

Yang had the fire going and prepared some marshmallows. She and Ruby were getting things together to make s'mores for dessert.

"Fire's almost done… where's the chocolate, Ruby? Ruby?" Yang turned around to see ruby eating the chocolate out of the wrapper. "RUBY! Come on!"

"Hey, it's your fault that you gave me this task." She says as she continues to eat the chocolate.

Yang got up and started fighting with Ruby over the chocolates. "Give them to me!"

"NO!" Ruby started to sound like a child that didn't want to let go of her favorite toy.

They kept fighting until they heard a knock at the door. Given the chance, Yang snatched the chocolates out of Ruby's hand and pushed her away, "I'll get us started, go see who's at the door."

Ruby walked away after sticking her tong out at Yang. Once she reached the door she found Qrow standing there, hands on his knees, he was panting hard. "Ruby… The Ring… where is it?"

Ruby led Qrow in and sat him down at the couch. To yang's surprise she helped him sit. "Qrow, what's going on?"

"Ruby. The ring. Now."

Ruby nodded and walked away. Yang looked to Qrow with confusion, "What ring? What's going on?"

"We're about to find out." Qrow said as Ruby walked in with the ring in her hand. "Throw it in the fireplace."

Ruby looked at him funny, "Uncle Qrow, how much whiskey have you had lately?"

"Just do it." He said as he pointed to the fireplace.

She did as she was told and dropped the ring into the fireplace. Qrow then stood up from the couch and grabbed a set of metal tongs. He picked the ring up out of the fire, "Open your hand Ruby."

"Are you crazy?" Yang asked with shock.

"It's ok, it's cool." He said as he held it over Ruby's hand.

"Let me hold it." Yang suggested as she put her hand over Ruby's, but Qrow quickly moved the tongs away from Yang's hand.

"NO! It has to be Ruby!" Qrow sounded scared, and if he was scared, they should be too.

Ruby put her hand over Yang's and opened it. Qrow dropped the ring on her palm and backed away. Qrow was right; the ring didn't burn at all. It was a bit warm, but it didn't hurt.

"Look into it, do you see anything?" Qrow asked as he turned away.

Yang walked over to look at the ring with Ruby, "I don't see anything."

"Me neither." Ruby said.

Qrow then let out a sigh of relief. "Wait."

"There are markings showing up on the ring…" Ruby said with a bit of confusion in her voice.

"I've never seen letters like those before… They almost look like old Faunus writing." Yang said. Ruby looked at her with a bit of confusion, "Blake and Grun showed me some old Faunus books the last time I was in Menagerie." Yang looked back down at the ring, "But like I said, I've never seen this kind of stuff before, I can't read it…"

"There are few who can… and fewer who can even speak the words." Qrow said with a very serious voice. He then turned around to face Ruby and Yang, "The language is that of Mordor… and I won't say it here."

"Mordor?" Yang asked, "The land of ash and fire?"

Qrow nodded. Ruby looked at it more, "What does it say?"

"In the common tongue it reads: _**'One Ring to conquer all, One Ring to shroud all, and in the darkness rule all'**_."

* * *

 **AN: And THIS is where I end the chapter, out of one cliffhanger and into another.**  
 **Sorry you guys, but it had to be done.**

 **Now you guys know more about how bad things got for Jaune when he thought Pyrrha was gone, and why she is not so broken after all she went through.**

 **And with the ring discovered, the Nazgul are now on the hunt.**

 **(Update: I'm sorry guys, due to College finals coming up, I haven't even started on the next chapter. I will as soon as I can, I promise.)**

 **Wish me luck on the next chapter.**  
 **And as always, ARKOS!**


	5. The Great Chase, part 1 Escape Patch

**The Great Chase, part 1 "Escape Patch"**

* * *

 **AN: Sorry I missed my day, this was finals week and I had my priorities.**

 **Now that I'm back, here is the new chapter; I will be on time next time.**

 **On to the story!**

* * *

"This is one of the pieces to Sauron's master ring! This is the ring of Darkness." Qrow said as he looked to Ruby and Yang.

They were each sitting on the couch as Qrow was drinking out of his flask, standing in front of the fireplace. The ring was placed on the table between the huntresses and Qrow.

"Piece?" Yang asked as she looked closely.

"Yes… before the Dark Lord Sauron passed into the next life, he gave his daughters his master ring, the ring that was forged of both light and dark. After splitting it in two, the power of the ring was also divided, separating the light and dark." Qrow then walked over to the bookshelf and pulled out an old storybook named "Dark land of Mordor", with it he showed them what the ring used to look like.

"This half went to Sauron's eldest daughter, Salem." Qrow said as he turned the page to show two female silhouettes, one was outlined in black ink, the other in white.

"And this is her ring? How did it end up here?" Ruby asked as she slightly moved away from it.

"The ring was taken by the hand of Salem herself when Isildur Numenor lead the battle of the Last Alliance." Qrow said as he flipped to the final page; it showed Isildur, Joan, Themistocles and Henry standing in a row, facing a large dark figure, Salem.

"But I thought Isildur lost the ring in the river… when he died…" Yang said with a bit of fear in her tone.

Qrow nodded, "He did… but not too long after, someone... or rather, something found it. Some say it was once a Faunas… some kind of amphibious, or maybe reptile… I can't remember" Qrow said after taking another sip form his flask. "Anyway, it came to be known as Gollum. And when he took the ring, he spent the next 80 years or so in hiding."

"And then mom found it… In Gollum's cave…" Ruby remembered when her mother used to tell her of her adventures. And she specifically remembered her telling of her encounter of Gollum when Yang was born.

"Luckily for her it didn't do anything to her." Qrow said with a bit of a smile.

"What do you mean?" Yang asked.

"Well… It is said that before the battle of the Last Alliance, Salem reforge the ring to have some kind of curse… a curse that would corrupt anyone who so much as touched it." Qrow said after another sip from his flask.

"So why didn't it do anything to mom… Or to ME?" Ruby asked with a bit of shock.

"If I were to guess… your silver eyes had something to do with it." Qrow said as he put down the book, "But that's not what we should be worried about…" He walked towards the window and looked out beyond the front yard. "I recently heard that a fortress near Mordor just went down…"

"When you say 'down'… do you mean…?" Yang felt too afraid to finish the question.

"…Massacred. But your friend Penny managed to save a good number of them." Qrow said as he turned back to the girls, "But that wont be the end of it. Evil is stirring in Mordor again… and Salem herself has returned."

"But she's dead… Isildur killed her in the battle, right?" Ruby asked.

Qrow shook his head, "If only it were that simple… Aside from the curse, Salem implanted a 'piece' of her soul into that ring. And so long as that ring exists, she has an 'anchor' to this world. Some people call it a 'Horcux'… and that is _**very**_ dark stuff."

"Why now?" Yang asked in confusion.

"I don't know… maybe she feels it again… maybe it called to her." The two of them looked at him in confusion, he nodded, "Yeah. It can do that." He then took another sip.

"But she doesn't know it's here." Ruby said as she stood up, "I mean… if she knew it was here, then she would have sent someone here already right?"

Qrow looked rather uneasy as he answered, "Gollum knew your mother had the ring… I knew that, and so does _**she**_ … I looked for him for days, but I was told that they got to him first." Qrow then drank the last of his flask; he turned it upside down to see that it was empty. "I don't know how long they tortured him for… but the only thing they could get out of him were two words, 'Patch' and 'Rose'."

"Then they know to come here!" Yang shouted in realization.

Ruby then grabbed the ring and tried to hand it to Qrow, he quickly responded by backing away as if someone just put fire in his face. "Take it, Uncle."

"No." Qrow tried to back away.

"Take it, you can get it out of here!" Ruby said with fear in her voice.

"You can't give me this ring!"

"Why? You can keep it safe?" Yang asked in confusion.

"DON'T TEMPT ME RUBY!" Qrow then slapped the ring out of her hand and onto the floor. The both looked to him as if he were crazy. But then given as he's drunk most of the time it wouldn't seem that weird, but this was different.

"I'm sorry, kiddo… But I can't touch it… not even you, Yang." Qrow said as he sat down, "Believe me, I would want to use it to do good… but through me, this ring would turn me into a puppet, and then Salem would eventually get it. And if that happens, we can kiss this bright and sunny world goodbye."

"Then what should we do?" Ruby asked.

Qrow looked to them both and gave them a slight grin, "You guys still remember the roadway to Rivendell form here?"

* * *

Ruby and Yang packed two backpacks full of spare clothing, food rations and bullets. Yang then grabbed her keys and walked with Ruby to the garage. Qrow was on his scroll, calling both Blake and Weiss, because the other two asked him to.

"Where are we going to go?" Ruby asked.

"First you'll have to get out of Patch. Head to the airport." Qrow said as he ended his scroll call. "Your friends say they're on their way, and will have a plane waiting for you by the time you get there."

Yang tossed Ruby her spare helmet as she put on her own. "Do you have any idea what Salem will send after us? That way we know what to look out for."

"She may send her Nazgul. If that be the case, if you begin to feel cold or see your breath, hide." Qrow said as he opened the garage door.

"What's a Nazgul?" Ruby asked.

"Something you don't want to run into, trust me." Qrow said as he gestured the girls to hurry up and exit the garage. "Try to stay off the roads as best you can."

"Then it'll take longer…" Yang said with a groan. "And my Bee isn't made for off-road."

"It's the only way to be safe, I'm sorry." Qrow said.

"Not exactly what I had in mind when I wanted a new adventure." Ruby said as she put on her helmet.

Qrow then looked to the two girls, seeing them in their huntress outfits and smiled. "You guys remain me of your parents every time…" **(Outfits we saw in Vol. 4)**

Qrow then walked up to Ruby, "Where is the ring?" Ruby then patted her backpack pocket. "Good… Now one thing you need to remember, Ruby, and this is crucial. Never put it on. The moment you do, they know where you are and come for you. That Ring wants to be found, so don't give it the chance to be."

Ruby nodded in understanding. "I won't let it."

Qrow then stood back as they both climbed onto the bike, "Once you're in the mainland, head for the village of Sequoia. And go to the Inn of the 'Prancing Pony'. I was told you'll find someone there that will help escort you to Rivendell."

"Who?" Yang asked.

"I don't know. I didn't ask." Qrow said.

"No I mean, who told you all this stuff. How could you possibly know what Gollum said, let alone that someone would escort us in Sequoia?" Yang asked with a bit of confusion.

"The leader of our 'inner circle' has great information gathering… and it's kept us alive thus far. I trust it." Qrow then patted both their helmets, "Now go, and keep each other safe."

Yang then revved up the engines and then rode down a dirt path that ran parallel to the main road. Luckily for Yang, dawn was around the corner and gave her enough light to see where she was going.

Qrow couldn't help but feel fear for them both, "Be careful, you two…"

* * *

Meanwhile in Vale, Jaune and Pyrrha had been spending the morning and mid day together in the city. At one point when they were in the markets, Jaune and Pyrrha split off to buy separate things. They went to get 'gifts' for each other.

Pyrrha went into a dress store and bought a new party dress, and then into a lingerie store. _"Let's see… What would most definitely get Jaune's heart rate up…?"_ she thought as she was looking through her options.

At the same time, Jaune went into a jewelry store and bought a 1-carat green diamond ring, and two green earrings to match her eyes. "I know she'll love this… And tonight will be the night that I ask…"

They met up back together for a night at one of the most romantic restaurant in Vale, " _ **Castillo del Amor**_ ", which meant " ** _Castle of Love_** ". He didn't pop the question when they were eating; he wanted to wait until they were back at the airship. Almost as a way of teasing her into thinking that he was going to do it right then, when really he planned on doing it at their temporary home.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha entered the airship; the crew was still enjoying their week off duty so they weren't onboard. Jaune and Pyrrha walked up to the door to the commanding officer's cabin. They both still had smiles on their faces; they enjoyed themselves a lot tonight. And they both have their own idea on how to end it on a high note.

Jaune used his right hand to open the door and put his left hand into his pocket to pull out the ring. He kept his eyes on Pyrrha, but when he saw her look forward and her smile vanish, he looked to see what caught her attention.

Sitting at Jaune's desk was Ozpin; he was only visible from one lamp light on the table. "Apologies for interrupting your date night…"

Jaune's hand came out of his pocket, leaving the ring inside, as he folded his arms across his chest. "What are you doing on my ship? How did you even get in here?!"

"You haven't been answering any of my messages and ignored all my calls. You gave me no choice. And as to how I got in, your crew were nice enough to let me in." Ozpin said as he stood up from the chair.

He used his cane to help him stand, the wounds he received from his isolation and imprisonment in Dol Guldur had lasting damage to him. Even today he still couldn't walk like he used to.

"What do you want?" Pyrrha asked.

Although she wasn't as hostile as she would have been two years ago, she still doesn't trust him now. Ozpin looked to Jaune and sighed, "Jaune... something terrible has happened, and I need your help."

Jaune rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall. Pyrrha walked over to the bed and sat down. She decided to stay out of this conversation, it was clear that this was more about Jaune and Ozpin than about her.

"What happened that was so important that you went so far as to sneak into my ship?" Jaune asked.

"I'm sure you were told of the events at Minas Ithil?" Ozpin asks with his usual monotone.

"The reports say a hoard of Grimm overran the base... But Ironwood's 'Unofficial report' he sent me said it was the Nazgul." When Jaune mentioned them there was a bit of fear in his tone. "If that's true, why would they attack that fortress?"

Pyrrha was a bit surprised to find Jaune sound so fearful. The last time he seamed this worried was back when they were entering the tournament four years ago.

"They took the fortress because she is on the move." Ozpin says with 100% contempt in his voice. He knew without a doubt that he was right, and Jaune could tell just by seeing it in his eyes.

"Salem..." Jaune said with a bit of a hiss in his tone. Ozpin nodded. Pyrrha remember hearing mention from one of the guards at the Spire when she was Cinder's prisoner. She knew her only by name and that she was Cinder's superior.

"Still don't see why you came to me..." Jaune says with the same irritated tone he had from before.

"I need your help to escort someone that has something that Salem wants. You will find them in Sequoia village in Vale, at the Inn of the Prancing Pony." Ozpin says as he places a paper with the coordinates to the village.

"Who am I meeting and what are they holding that Salem wants to badly that she would start moving now?" Jaune asked with complete confusion. He may not know much about Salem but he knows she's not stupid. To reveal herself now would mean that she is ready to start another Great War, but as far as he knew, the "Grimm hoard count" hasn't spiked in over a year. "Why would she risk exposing herself now? It would be too early for her..."

"The object she wants... It's her ring... The Ring of Darkness." Ozpin says with a bit of fear in his tone.

Jaune and Pyrrha both were taken back by this news. The Ring... THE Ring, has surfaced again. It had been 80 years and nobody has seen or heard from it in that time. "No reports, investigations without ends, and NOW it turns up?"

"Who is the currier?" Pyrrha asked. She noticed that Ozpin didn't ask Jaune's first question, and she couldn't help but ask.

Ozpin looked to them both, with a bit of hesitation on his face. He knew that if he lied they could tell, and if he told the truth Jaune would force him to leave. But this wasn't the time for personal feelings. "The one who is currying to Sequoia... Is Ruby...?"

Silence took the room. Pyrrha was silent; she may not have looked it, but she was fighting back a wave of anger and hatred from bubbling over the rim. Jaune on the other hand just looked at Ozpin. If you looked long enough you'd think he wasn't blinking for more than five minutes.

"You... put this... ON RUBY?!" Jaune exploded.

"We didn't have a choice!" Ozpin shouted back.

"BULLSHIT! THAT'S A LOAD OF BULLSHIT!" Jaune shouted louder.

"Jaune!" Ozpin shouted, "The Ring corrupts any who hold it, EXCEPT those who have silver eyes. Now I'm not saying I wanted this for her, but it has to be her, for now!"

"Who's the next person you're going to put a burden on? Nora? You have a VERY nasty habit of putting your problems on other people who have NO qualification!" Jaune spat.

"It has been two years, Jaune! It's time to MOVE ON!" Ozpin tries to confront him but Jaune brought on just as good of points as he did.

"You USED Pyrrha for your own game!" Jaune shot back. "And now you're using Ruby!"

"That's not fair! I didn't ask her to do this, nobody did! She just found the ring and that's it." Ozpin started to get irritated.

"Get out!" Jaune said as he pointed to the door. "Get out before I throw you out!" Jaune had enough of Ozpin's excuses and had no patients to hear any more of them.

Ozpin saw that he would get nowhere further than this. Jaune didn't want to see him anymore, let alone talk to him. Ozpin placed the coordinates on the desk and walked to the door, using his cane to walk with. Just as he reached the door, he was standing next to Jaune. "Not a day goes by that I don't regret my choices… my only hope that there will come a day when I can make amends for them…"

Jaune didn't say a word; he had nothing left to say. Pyrrha remained silent, there was nothing to add and she knew it.

Ozpin walked off the ship and walked towards Beacon. There was a small tear that dripped down his left eye. He quickly wiped it off and continued down the walkway towards the academy.

Jaune sat down at the bed and put his hands on his forehead.

Pyrrha stood up and sat down next to him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, "Jaune… Ruby needs our help…"

"If I do this I'm just doing Ozpin's dirty work again…" Jaune said with a bit of a low tone. He then stood up started to growl in frustration, "And I am NOT going to follow that arrogant son of a-!"

Before Jaune knew it, Pyrrha stood up with him, got in front of him and slapped him in the face. Jaune's face was that of pure shock. "Snap out of it, Jaune! This isn't about Ozpin, or Us, this is about the whole world!"

Jaune looks her in the eye, "Did you just slap me? You never slapped me before."

"I didn't think I had to until now…" Pyrrha said with a bit of irritation in her voice. "Look, Jaune… you can't keep holding this anger towards Ozpin forever. You need to let it go."

"You're asking ME to let it go? Pyrrha!" Jaune wasn't expecting this from her.

"YES I'm asking this; because if you don't do it now, you never will." Pyrrha was trying to be as calm as she could about this.

"I can't believe YOU are defending him. You're actually being the devil's advocate right now?" Jaune asked with confusion.

"He's not the devil!" Pyrrha gave a bit of an annoyed look.

"You know what I mean!" Jaune said as he crossed his arms. "After what he tricked you into doing, what it almost costed you; are you saying you forgive him for that?!"

She then puts her hands on his shoulders, "Jaune! I'm not asking you to forgive him… I haven't… Not yet anyway… But you have to let this go."

Jaune tried to look away, but Pyrrha put her hand on his chin and turned him back to face her, "You have to let this go… If you let all this anger stay built inside you, you'll fall back into the same darkness that you were in when you had the Arkenstone…"

Pyrrha hit the nail right on the head with that one. When he told her what he was like, what he almost became because of that damned rock, she refused to let him fall back to that. "Right now, Ruby needs our help… That means we need to work with Ozpin and the rest of his 'inner circle'… Ok?"

Jaune sighed, "Ok…" He then gave her a hug; she quickly returned it in kind. She then started to rub her hand down his back, and a bit down the back of his head.

"I know it won't happen over night, but I believe there will be a day where we forgive him… And I have a feeling hating Ozpin wasn't something your father wanted…" she said as she held him tighter.

Jaune then smiled a bit, "Ok, that's just cheating…"

"I know." She said as she smiled.

Then Jaune's scroll began to vibrate in his pocket. He pulled it out and saw that it was Carol calling. "Hello?" he said as he answered the call.

" _Jaune, we have a problem!_ " Carol said with a very concerned tone.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha entered the main military command center and saw that Carol and Qrow were both standing over the holo-map of Vale.

"Report." Jaune said as he walked up to the table.

"The boarder villages have shared reports of unknown ships off the coast. Others say their Grimm-detectors are showing hoard massing in sector 4 and 7." Carol said as she highlighted all that she mentioned on the map.

Pyrrha looked to Qrow with confusion, "When did you get here?"

"I've been here for hours… A little birdy told me to come by and help with what I can." Qrow said as he swirled his flask and then took a sip.

"Those sectors are in Mirkwood and near one of the outer villages. Have you sent support troops?" Jaune asked.

"Already done. But if those reports are accurate, Jaune…" Carol says with a bit of worry in her tone.

"Then an invasion is coming our way." Jaune finished with a bit of a hiss in his voice.

An assistant walked up to Carol with a data pad and then walked away. Carol read the repot and her eyes widened with fear, "Jaune, something is happening at Fornost!"

Pyrrha looked confused, "What is Fornost?"

Jaune typed in the location and zoomed in the ruined fortress on the map, "Fornost is an old fortress that Vale used to use… It was the last fortress to hold the coast before Vale's counter attack. But by the time the reinforcements got there, the troops stationed there were wiped out."

"We abandoned it decades ago because we didn't need it anymore… now there are reports of large scale Grimm-massing!" Carol said as she updated the image to present day. The map lit up as if the fortress and the forest around it were painted red; thousands of red dots, Grimm, massing inside the fortress and in the surrounding forest.

Jaune started to get worried, so much was happening in so little time. Salem was more prepared for war than he had originally thought. "How many men can we spare for a siege at Fornost?"

"None." Carol said bluntly.

Everyone looked to her with confusion, so she elaborated, "Jaune, there are too many hoards and possible invasion zones, Vale's forces are spread too thin to deal with something like this. Same goes for the Sky Knights."

"Then how on Remnant are we going to stop the army at Fornost?" Jaune asked with a bit of anger in his voice.

Everyone's attention was pulled towards Qrow as he cleared his throat loudly. "I think I have a solution to the problem…" Qrow then pulled out his scroll and forwarded four images of people.

"These hunters have the training, the skill, and the power to take care of Fornost." Qrow said with full contempt.

"Are they reliable?" Pyrrha asked.

"I've seen them in action myself, they can do it." Qrow said with a calm voice.

Carol rolled her eyes, "Four people can't take on an army on their own!"

"They're smart, I'm sure they'll find a way to win. However, it will take some convincing to get them to do this…" Qrow said as he took another sip form his flask.

"Convincing?" Jaune asked with confusion, he then realized what he meant when he saw Qrow rub his index finger and thumb together. "They're Freelancers, aren't they?"

"OH NO! I am not asking for Freelancer help! They are greedy drunk lowlifes." Carol said as she crossed her arms.

"Hey, I was a freelancer once!" Qrow said with a bit of a whiny tone.

"I rest my case." Carol said with a dull look

Qrow was quiet for a second then shrugged his shoulders, "Well, you got me there." He then drank more form his flask.

"Can they get it done?" Jaune asked.

Qrow looked to Jaune and nodded, "Yep."

Jaune looked at the map; first looking at the rumored invasion sightings, then to the villages that were facing hoard attack, and then to Fornost. He lowered his head and sighed, "Set up a meeting."

"Jaune!" Carol said with disbelief.

Just as Carol gave her outburst, another assistant walked up to Pyrrha and pointed to her comlink. Pyrrha followed the assistant to her console and answered the call.

"We're out of options, Carol." Jaune then turned to Qrow, "Can you arrange a meeting?"

"I can get you their informant in Vale, but you'll have to meet them yourselves." Qrow said.

"Carol, you meet with them and send them to Sequoia, at the Inn of the Prancing Pony. I'll meet them there." Jaune said as he stood up straight.

"What will you be doing there?" Carol asked with confusion.

"I have my own mission to do, and the only time I'll be in public will be then. Tell them to meet me there by Monday." Jaune said as he backed away from the table.

"Jaune, I don't like asking Freelancers…" Carol said with the same irritated tone she had before.

"You aren't asking them to help, I am. Just tell them to meet me at the village and then you're done, ok?" Jaune asked.

Carol nodded and then walked away. Qrow gave Jaune a smile and then started to walk away.

"Qrow… Why did you come to this meeting?" Jaune asked out of complete curiosity.

"Like I said, a birdy told me you may need my help, and I'd say she was right." Qrow said as he held his flask up a bit and then turned away.

Jaune then walked up to Pyrrha as she just finished her call, "Ok, I'll be there soon. Love you too. Bye."

"Who was that?" Jaune asked with a bit of jealousy in his tone.

She smirked at him, she found it a bit cute he was jealous, "It was my cousin. He said he needs me back home. Help inspire the troops, I guess. Something odd is happening in Mistral that is similar to here… But don't worry, I'll meet you in Rivendell."

"Ok, while you're in Mistral, why don't you bring Ren and Nora with you, with what's going on it may be best to have the whole team back together." Jaune said as he held her.

"My thoughts exactly…" She then hugged him hard, "You better get there before me, or I will come after you…"

"Yes ma'am…" Jaune said as he let go. Just as Pyrrha was walking away, he called her again, "Oh and Pyrrha, tell your cousin I said good luck."

"I'm sure he'd say the same." Pyrrha said with a wink.

* * *

In Patch, Ruby and Yang had been driving through dirt paths for almost a full day. They stopped because Yang's Bee had some problems with the gears. While yang was working on her bike, Ruby was keeping lookout in the tree above.

"You almost done down there?" Ruby asked.

Yang groaned as she rubbed motor oil off her forehead, "Do you have any idea how much damage to the inner gears this does to the engine? This bike isn't made for off-road!"

"Qrow said we need to stay off the road, that means going through all the dirt paths." Ruby said as she looked down her scope to look at the surrounding area.

"I would have this set for off road, but you didn't give me time to set it when we left." Yang said as she placed the outer plating back onto the bike.

"You were the one who was eager to get going. Nobody said we had to leave right then!" Ruby said.

"I know! I just don't like blaming myself." Yang mumbled that last part to herself.

Using her scope, Ruby looked around until she saw the main road, then she saw what looked like two women on rental bikes riding down the road. Judging by the direction they were going, she realized they were heading to their house. Ruby then zoomed in to see that they were Weiss and Blake.

"Yang! Weiss and Blake are on the road!" Ruby shouts as she jumps down. "If we hurry we can catch them on the road.

Yang didn't need any convincing as she hopped on her bike and waited for Ruby to hop on too. She started the engine and gunned it down the dirt path. With luck they reached the road just before Blake and Weiss could pass the path.

Weiss and Blake parked their bikes and gave them both hugs. "What are you guys doing here? I thought we were supposed to meet up at the airport?" Ruby asked as she held Weiss tightly.

"We were at the airport, but when you guys were taking too long we got worried." Weiss said.

"Qrow telling us to hurry and not answering our questions didn't exactly ease the tension." Blake said.

Yang looked at their bikes, "Where did you get pieces of junk like these?"

"They're rentals at the airport, Yang." Weiss said as she rolled her eyes.

As Yang, Weiss and Blake were talking, Ruby's attention was pulled elsewhere. She first started to feel a bit of a chill flow through the air. She then saw what appeared to be smoke come up from below her eyes. She looked down to see it was her own breath. She looked down the road and fell something dark approaching. She then heard a faint screech echo down the road to confirm her fears. "Get off the road! NOW!"

The other girls were confused as to why Ruby was freaking out, but then they began to feel the same darkness she did. They moved their bikes down to a nearby storm drain tunnel that ran under the road. It was large enough for them to be standing straight up and not hit their heads on the ceiling.

The bikes were parked deeper into the drain, while the four huntresses all lined up against one of the walls and waited. What they were waiting for, they had no clue.

Less than a minute after they settled in the drain, they heard the sounds of horse hooves tapping above them. Then they stopped.

Ruby looked down at the muddy water and see that it was beginning to frost over. Ice was forming out of mud before her eyes, and she couldn't believe it.

Then they heard what sounded like a person landing feet first on the road. Someone had dismounted one of the horses. Then they saw a shadow come over the entrance to the drain. They heard what almost sounded like sniffing.

" _ **Do you smell anything?**_ " A formal woman voice asked.

" _ **Not much… I think a few rodents. And maybe a cat…**_ " said a more energetic woman's voice.

" _ **What good are birdlike abilities if they don't help us find them.**_ " Said a bratty woman's voice.

" _ **Stow it, Jackie, I'm concentrating…**_ " Said the energetic voice but with a bit more annoyance in her tone.

" _ **Are they close?**_ " asked the formal woman in more of a whisper.

" _ **Yes.**_ " The energetic one said.

Ruby and the girls could feel them getting closer. If they didn't know they were in the drain, they would have gone on by now. They were teasing them.

Blake took a quiet deep breath and then walked towards the middle of the drain. She then activated her semblance. While it was common knowledge that she could form shadow clones, but this time was different, this time when it formed, it started running out of the drain fast. It ran so fast it was almost as if it was the original. But the True Original was still in the drain with the rest of the group.

They immediately heard a screech as one of the women saw Blake's clone run off. " _ **AFTER HER!**_ " Shouted the bratty voice.

With that, all two women rode off after the clone, and the third flew off with her own wings.

All four women sighed in slight relief, but they were still terrified. "What… the hell… was that?" Weiss asked.

"What is going on Ruby?" Blake asked.

"I'll explain later, right now we need to get off the island." Ruby said.

"We're not far from the port, let's go." Weiss said as she mounted her bike.

The other women mounted their bikes and rode out of the storm drain and back onto the road, gunning it all the way down to the airport.

* * *

They reached the airport just after sunset. It was dark and most of the public airfares were already gone or were shut down for the night.

They reached a bullhead that had a Schnee Dust Company logo on the side. "You're dad let you borrow one of these?" Yang asked as she loaded her bike onto the plane.

"Borrowed sounds like an understatement. It's more like 'commandeering'." She said as she winked.

"And here I thought I didn't teach you anything in our academy years…" Yang smiled.

Weiss then walked into the cockpit and began starting the engines. Yang was so surprised to find that Weiss knew what she was doing. "When did you learn how to fly a bullhead?"

"When I turned 18 my sister taught me. If I'm going to be a huntress, I'm going to need to know about a lot of stuff." Weiss said as she continued the preflight sequence. "Go outside and remove the fuel line and tell the others that we're ready."

Yang nodded as she ran out of the plane and to the fuel line port.

Meanwhile, Blake and Ruby stood watch not far from the plane. If those three women were able to find them on the road, they may very well be on their way here now.

"GUYS! We're good to go!" Yang shouted as she ran back into the plane.

Blake and Ruby then turned back to the plane, ready to put those nightmares behind them. But then they both heard a faint screech in the wind. They both turned back to see two horse riders and one large aviary heading right for them.

They both instantly ran as fast as they could to the plane. "WEISS, TAKE OFF NOW!" Yang shouted as she grabbed on one of the supports and held her hand out to grab the girls and pull them onboard.

Blake reached the plane first just as the plane lifted off the ground. Weiss started to fly away from the port, but she did it slowly enough so that Ruby could reach.

Ruby ran so fast she ended up using her semblance and rose pedals started to fly behind her. The plane was starting to get higher and she was out of Yang's grasp. Weiss couldn't go lower because she was about to hit the guard fence surrounding the port.

Ruby drew her weapon, converted it into scythe mode and shot straight down. She propelled herself upward and grabbed onto Yang's prosthetic arm. Blake grabbed Ruby along side Yang and pulled her up.

They pulled her onboard and all four of them fell on each other in the main hold. Just when they thought they were safe they heard that same screeching, only it was a lot louder and closer.

Zyra was holding onto the hull of the plane with her talons buried into the plating. She was about to climb into the plane but then found herself at the reviewing end of a sniper rifle. "No hitchhikers." Ruby said as she fired.

The bullet hit Zyra in her left eye, she arched back in pain and let louse her talons.

"What was that?" Weiss shouted in confusion. Ruby and the others all gave off a sigh of relief. Yang then pressed a button to close the main door.

"Get us to the mainland. We need to get to Sequoia." Ruby said as she sat down in the cockpit. Luckily it was designed to be open enough for all four of them to sit in it.

"Now will you tell us what's going on?" Blake asked as she looked at two sisters with a rather desperate look on her face.

* * *

Zyra's body continued to fall straight down into the water below and made a large splash.

The water seamed clam after a minute, then Zyra came up and gasped. " _ **That little bitch…**_ " The bullet hole appeared to have sand on the inside. Then the sand started to move and form together, healing the eye and making it whole again.

" _ **Have a nice swim?**_ "

Zyra looked up to find both Jackie and Jadis looking down at her while they were on their horses. Zyra looked down to see that they were standing on a frozen glacier that was undoubtedly made by Jadis as a means of their travel between Patch and the Mainland.

" _ **Stow it, Jackie.**_ " Zyra said as she crawled onto the ice.

" ** _Why don't you go fly after them already?_** " Jackie asks when Zyra pulls herself out of the water.

" _ **Like regular birds, my wings don't work when they're wet!**_ " Zyra then crossed her arms and growled, " ** _We were so close! It was right there, I could feel it!_** "

" _ **It's not like we can't still go after them.**_ " Jackie said as she held her hand out to allow Zyra to ride with her. " _ **Once we reach the main land we can go searching again.**_ "

" _ **But we don't know where they're going! Sanus is the biggest continent in the world, they could be ANYWHERE!**_ " Zyra said with an angry shout.

" _ **The Ring is in the possession of humans… Eventually one of them will make the mistake of putting it on and we will find them. It's only a matter of time.**_ "

* * *

 **AN: And that's where I end it.**

 **Jaune is on his way to help Ruby, Ruby is on her way to Sequoia and the Nazgul are hunting her.**

 **For those who want to know about that team of hunters Qrow mentioned, they are the OCs of one of my partners, Breakawayfan. He will be posting his parallel story along side mine soon, and when he does check it out. It will be following a similar story to the LotR game "War in the North".**

 **I am SO sorry it took me so long but I had Finals to worry about and other personal things to get settled before I could finish the chapter.**

 **I will have the next one done next week, not entirely sure on which day yet, but it will be next week for sure.**

 **Please R &R**

 **And last but not least, ARKOS!**


	6. Great Escape, part 2 Weathertop Nightmar

**Great Escape, part 2 "Weathertop Nightmare"**

* * *

 **AN: I'm sorry the last chapter was too short, but the demand for a new chapter was too great for me to finish it fully.**

 **Since I owed you all a larger chapter, I am posting this one a week early, also because I care about my readers! :)**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

After Ozpin's 'discussion' with Jaune, he took the next flight out of Vale and went to Haven Academy to speak with the headmaster. Ozpin walked towards the main tower and reached the elevator. He pressed the button that takes him up to Headmaster Saruman Lionheart's office.

After only a few minutes of waiting, the elevator door reached the office and opened up. Ozpin walked into the office and heard a familiar voice come from the man that stood on the opposite side of the room from him.

The man was wearing a golden cloak, and had hair as white a snow, with a few black streaks running down it. "The hour is late as the smoke rises from Mt. Doom, and Ozpin the Grey comes to Haven to seeking my council." The man then turned around with a smile on his face, "That is why you came, is it not? My old friend."

"Saruman… It's been too long…" Ozpin says with a smile. He walked forward as Saruman walked around his desk and met him half way. They hugged like old friends whom haven't seen each other in years, which wasn't too far off from the truth.

Ozpin and Saruman shared a cup of Mistral coffee as they conversed over the finding of the ring.

"Of all the places it could hide, I never would have thought it'd be in Patch." Ozpin said as he took a sip.

Saruman laughed a bit, "Don't beat yourself up too much, old friend. People have been searching for that ring for almost a century and found no reason to believe it was in past as you did."

"Now that the ring has been found we have to move fast. I believe we still have time enough to counter Salem before she could do any more damage." Ozpin says with a bit of hope in his tone.

"Time?" Saruman ask, "What time do you believe we have, exactly?"

Saruman turned back to his desk and pulled up a holo-map of Remnant. He then zoomed in on the 'dragon shaped' continent of Mimar, and the Black Land of Mordor. "Salem has regained much of her strength, enough for her to have a body again. As I'm sure our friends have informed you. You may have been able to force her away at Dol Guldur, but she has been gathering strength longer than that."

Ozpin looked at the map, seeing the images of Barad Dur, the Black Gate, and the newly reformed fortress of Minas Morgul. "But she doesn't have enough power to leave her land… otherwise she'd have already paid the other kingdoms a visit, like last time."

"Yes…" Saruman then zoomed in on Barad Dur, "But that doesn't mean she is blind to the rest of the world." The hologram revealed the tower and showed the flaming eye at the top.

"The 'Eye of Sauron'…" Ozpin said with a bit of anger in his tone.

"She has full control over her late father's old watch tower; with that eye, her gaze can see past clouds, shadow, rock and flesh." Saruman sounded very in awe of such a device.

The eye had been such a modern marvel, even by Remnant's standards. For decades, Mantel and Atlas scientists have been trying to recreate and duplicate such a device for their own purposes but could never get close. The best they came up with was the CCT, but even that is nothing in comparison to the 'Eye of Sauron'.

"She has already begun gathering armies to her cause…" Saruman said as he turned off the holo-map. "Orcs of Mordor, Goblins from the mountains, Grimm hoards… hell, she's even calling in the White Fang for support."

Ozpin couldn't help but ask, "Support for what?"

"The next Great War is upon us, Ozpin…" Saruman says with confidence.

"How do you know all this? Did her grace-?" Ozpin was cut off from his question when Saruman held his hand up to stop him.

"No… I saw it myself…" He said as he gestured Ozpin to follow.

Ozpin and Saruman walked to the center of the room, there a small section of the floor opened up and a small pedestal came up. On the pedestal appeared to be a silk cloth covering over some kind of sphere.

Saruman pulled on the silk to reveal a blacked out crystal ball on the pedestal. Ozpin's eyes squinted at the sight of this magical object. "Damn it, Saruman, I told you the Palantir is too dangerous." Ozpin almost sounded like an older brother that was annoyed by his little brother.

"Why?" Saruman asked as he brushed his hand on the ball, "Why should we of all people be afraid to use it?"

Ozpin rolled his eyes, "You know why. They aren't all found, the lost seeing stones… We don't know who could be on the other end." Ozpin said as he took the silk shrewd and placed it back over the orb. Right then when his hand touched the orb, Ozpin saw two glowing, blood red eyes staring at him. And in an instant they were gone, and Ozpin removed his hand form the orb.

"Ozpin, my old friend… We are already out of time…" Saruman says with a bit of a disappointed tone. "Salem has already given the orders to her generals, and the Three have already made their way into Vale."

"The Dark Maidens…" Ozpin said with the realization that Salem has already dispatched her Nazgul to their missions.

"They were last seen in Patch, chasing someone in a red hood… They will find the Ring, and kill Ms. Rose." Saruman says with a very ominous tone.

"Ruby!" Ozpin whispered as he turned to the elevator. Saruman somewhat smirked as he pressed a button on his desk. Right when Ozpin reached the elevator door, it immediately closed in front of him and locked itself.

"Did you honestly believe that a relative of a dead legend could contend with the will of Salem?" Saruman couldn't help but laugh at the thought. "Not even the power of a Star Knight could stand against her, and it took four to stop her last time."

Ozpin turned slowly to Saruman; he had the look of betrayal all over his face. The man who he once saw as a friend, almost a brother, turned out to be Salem's inside into the Inner Circle. He full heartedly believed that that ended when Cinder was killed, and now he learns it was Saruman this whole time.

"Against the power of Mordor… there is _**no victory**_." Saruman says with absolute certainty. "The only way to survive the coming destruction is to join her, Ozpin…"

Ozpin's face showed his anger; even his normal tone was darker with rage, "Tell me, old friend… When did the great Saruman Lionheart trade loyalty for cowardice?"

Saruman's look dropped dramatically as he raised his staff towards Ozpin, shining his white Diamond Dust crystal. Ozpin matched him and formed his green bubble in defense of Saruman's attack. Ozpin was then pushed back a few feet; he quickly fell to one knee due to the pain in his leg.

Ozpin then retaliated by shooting a few blasts from his grey dust shard. Saruman deflected the beam, causing the window beside him to break. Saruman then charged forward. Ozpin did the same. They both formed a 'staff lock' holding each other back with all their strength.

Ozpin dropped the lock, ducked from Saruman's swing of his staff, and then hit him in the face with the head of his cane. The dust shard made contact with Saruman's face, knocking a tooth out of his mouth. Saruman backed up a few steps, and then blasted Ozpin in his weak leg, forcing him back on his knees.

Ozpin quickly responded by blasting Saruman straight up into the ceiling, pinning him there for about a minute until Ozpin couldn't hold him any longer. Once he let go, Saruman pointed his staff at Ozpin and fired a blast of pure white lightning from his Dust shard on the way down.

Ozpin quickly tumble rolled backwards in time for the lighting to hit the floor instead of him. And then blasted a mix of green and grey energy at Saruman just before he could land. Saruman was then propelled toward the elevator door and made a man-sized dent before falling forward onto the ground.

Ozpin then panted as he put both his hands on the ground and breathed heavily. It had been years since his last fight, he feels a bit out of practice. Saruman coughed up some blood and then proceeded to stand up slowly. "I gave you the chance to join us willingly! But now I see that you are more accustomed to the way of pain…"

Saruman raised his staff to point the dust end at Ozpin, just as Ozpin raised his cane to block whatever he was about to be hit with. But then something hit him in the back of the head, the impact was so hard, it knocked him out cold.

Ozpin dropped to the floor, still breathing, but unconscious. Saruman gave off a sigh of relief as he looked to the man that was de-cloaking above Ozpin. "You sure took your time, mercenary…"

The man's armor was jet black with green stripes. His helmet opened up to reveal Locus behind the mask. "Sorry, I was in the mood to see two 'wizards' fight. I'm surprised you needed me at all… I would have thought the great Saruman the White would have handled someone like him?"

Saruman rolled his eyes, "You follow your purpose and I'll follow mine and lets leave it at that." Saruman then wiped the sweat off his face and looked to Locus, "Seal off the academy, and force everyone out."

Locus nods, "Haven will be ours by Dawn." Locus then walks toward the stairwell to take one of the elevators on the floor below, since the one here was 'out of order'.

Saruman slowly walked over to Ozpin and picked up his cane. He pressed the button that retracted the body of the cane and placed it on his belt. "Oh little Oz, you had so much potential with us…"

* * *

It had been three days since Jaune arrived in Sequoia. Since this was meant to be a covert mission, he couldn't just arrive in his airship. So he drove in a buggy he bought from Lake Town.

His disguise was simple; he wore a black cloak over his whole body, the only armor he brought were his gauntlets, and he kept his hood over his head at all times. By this time, every hunter, mercenary, bounty hunter, and thief knew what he looked like. Whenever someone asked his name he always called himself "Strider".

By that time, he had already talked with the freelancers at the Inn. After a short but pricy bargain, they agreed to deal with the horde massing at Fornost.

After three days of waiting, Jaune started to get worried about Ruby and the others. _"They couldn't have found them. They survived Vale during the Battle; they'll find a way… They have to."_

Jaune's thought was interrupted when a waitress walked up to him and set down a drink. Jaune lifted his head so that his eyes could see the waitress, "I didn't-."

"From the woman in the back…" She pointed to in the corner opposite from him. "With red eyes. Said you would want the strongest stuff."

Jaune looked to find a woman wearing a black cloak, at first he didn't know who it was. But when he saw the sword holster on the chair next to her, he realized immediately who it was.

Jaune looked back to the waitress, "Thanks."

Once the waiter walked away, Jaune picked up his glass and walked over to the woman in black. Once he sat down she spoke, "Good to see you again, Jaune."

"Ms. Branwen." Jaune said as sat down.

"Why the sudden formality?" Raven asked. "I mean you are the Star Knight but you don't have to-."

"Before you start I'm just going to tell you now, I know everything." Jaune says bluntly.

Raven then gave a look of shock, "Oh you do, don't you? What is it exactly that you know?"

Jaune sat up and looked her in the eye. "Not long after I became the new Star Knight, all my father's files went straight to me. There was even an entire file about you."

"He had a file all about me. I'm almost flattered." Raven says with a bit of a smile.

"You should be, because he went into detail: leader of a group of hardcore bandits, ruthless on the battlefield, sees the membership of family has to be earned." Jaune was obviously irritated to list all of it, because that's the kind of bandit problem he deals with in peacetime as Star Knight. "No wonder you don't see Yang as family despite her being your daughter."

"I saved you from the goblins at the mountains." Raven spat, "I could have let you all to die, but I didn't."

"Only because it suited your needs… such as someone who could deal with the Glass Queen and Smaug for you." Jaune says as he drinks the liquid he was given. He didn't know what it was, but he needed something to calm his nerves before this became a scene to the people in the bar.

The moment that drink wend down his throat he felt a lot of stress leave his body, "Wow, that's good."

"Yeah, Qrow used to drink that whenever he got too tense." Raven says with a bit of a smile.

Jaune then placed the glass down on the table, "Look, whatever deal you made with my father applies to me too."

Raven nodded in understanding, regardless of his age, she knew better than to break the word she promised to a Star Knight. "I'm sure you are aware on why I am here."

"You're here to help me protect Ruby?" Jaune asks.

"The Nazgul are hot on her trail, you need to get to Rivendell. Once you are there, you'll be safe from them." Raven said.

"Why won't they go to Rivendell?" Jaune asked with confusion.

Raven rolled her eyes, she thought he knew this already, "Same reason why Lake Town was spared from Grimm attacks: enchanted water."

"You mean it's in Rivendell too?" Jaune asked with shock.

"It originated in Rivendell. And before that, Menagerie." Raven says with a bit of awe in her tone. She then took a sip of her own drink, "You know Jaune, if I were you, I'd take another look at the people you consider 'trustworthy.' And I'm not just talking about Ozpin."

Jaune gave her a confused glare, "What do you mean?"

Raven then gave Jaune a smirk, "The next time you see the good General, ask him about 'Project Marauder'. And when you do, watch his reaction."

"What is it?" Jaune asked. He had never heard of such a project, not even in his father's files.

"A little bit of history behind one of your girlfriends captors… I believe he called himself 'Locus'." Raven said with a bit of a devious smile.

Before Jaune could ask another question, they heard a familiar voice echo in the bar. "Ok fine, give me whichever is strongest." The both turned to see Yang standing at the bar ordering a drink. They looked around the bar until they see Ruby, Blake and Weiss, all hooded and cloaked in their primary colors.

* * *

About an hour prior to Yang ordering a drink, Ruby and the others reached the front gate of Sequoia.

The rain didn't help lighten the mood they were all feeling. On the run, trying to stay ahead of the Nazgul, and doing their best to keep from being noticed by any unfriendly folk.

When they landed in the village in the mainland, they bought a bike so that Weiss and Blake to ride double while Ruby rode with Yang.

As they rode up to the large door, Ruby walked up to the door and knocked hard. A small window opened above her where a man looked out, he found nobody there. He then closed the window and opened one lower that was Ruby's eye level. "What do you want?"

The man appeared to be a dog Faunus; he had pointed ears at the top of his head. **(He had German shepherd ears)**

"We're here to stay at the Inn. Our reasons why are our own." Ruby says.

The man nodded, "Alright, geeze." He then closed the window and opened the gate so that the girls would walk their bikes into the village. "Just apart of the job. With the White Fang still out there there's no telling when they'll try to make another move in Vale."

Blake could feel the pain in her own heart, the White Fang seen as a terrorist group, even by her own people. Despite the fact that most of the White Fang in Vale were either killed or driven out, the hatred towards them was burned into the hearts of both peoples.

The guard then pointed at the Inn, "Prancing Pony is down three blocks that way."

Blake looked to the 'guard dog' said, "Thanks." Everyone then walked together to the front of the Inn. Yang and Blake locked up the bikes in the same parking spot in the front. Then they walked into the Inn.

Ruby walked up to the Innkeeper as he was standing at the bar, "Sir?"

The Innkeeper looked at all four of them, "Huntresses, welcome! If you're here to stay the night you're in luck. We just got a room open with four beds."

Ruby smiled, "Thank you. Also, did you see anyone come by that looked suspicious?"

"Define suspicious, ma'am." The keeper said. "I've seen all kinds these days."

"Well, maybe you saw a man with short black hair and a grey jacket, carrying a scythe?" Ruby tried her best to describe Qrow without having to drop his name.

"Hmmm… Nope… haven't seen anyone who fits that description. Anyone else in particular you're looking for?" the Keeper asked.

Ruby couldn't think of anyone else that could meet with them, so she had no other descriptions to give. "No, thank you."

Ruby then turned to the others; Blake was the first to ask, "What do we do now?"

Yang answered her question by walking up to the bartender and asked, "Hey, Bartender, can I get a Strawberry Sunrise?"

The Bartender looked at her with confusion, "Where do you think you are, the capitol? Here we have Vale Whiskey or Vacuo Bourbon."

Yang then rolled her eyes, "Ok fine, give whichever is strongest."

All the other girls rolled their eyes, Yang looked at them with a half smile, "What? We've been moving constantly for the past three days, I need to get the edge off somehow."

Ruby then looked to Blake and Weiss, "Looks like we're staying for a while."

"Lets get some food then, I'm starving." Blake said as she went to an open table and called for a waitress.

* * *

Ruby and her friends hadn't been there for an hour, but Raven couldn't stop staring them down. "You've been staring at them since they got here."

Raven looked to Jaune, "I'm making sure nobody makes a move on them."

Jaune ate some of the food off his plate; after he finished a roll of break he spoke whispered. "You're staring is making me feel uncomfortable, and I can only imagine what they're feeling right now."

* * *

Over at RWBY's table, Ruby had just finished informing the others on what is going on.

"So that's what they were after? Where did your uncle say we should take it?" Weiss asked.

"Rivendell… For some reason, he thinks it can keep it safe, and us too." Ruby said with a hopeful tone. She then looks to Yang with a bit of curiosity. "Yang, what's wrong."

Yang had a rather serious look on her face as she looked down at her drink. "That person in the blood red hood over there has been staring at us since we got here."

They were all about to look, but Yang stopped them, "Don't look, they'll know that we know."

Blake stopped one of the waitress and asked her, "Those two in the back, under the hoods, who are they?"

"I don't know too much about the woman, she's only been here for a day. But the man, he's been here for at least three days." When she described him she didn't seam as afraid as when she described the woman. "I think he might be a Huntsman, or one of those Sky Knights. Everyone here calls him 'Strider'."

Ruby couldn't help but feel worried. What if the Nazgul aren't working alone? She reached for her bag and gripped tight over the pocket that held the Ring. She pulled it out to look at it again. Last time she looked at it, she could have sworn she saw something different about it. She looked down on her lap to look at it. As she stared at it, for a second she could have sworn she saw the black jewel in the center emit a tiny glow.

All of a sudden, someone was shoved into her, pushing her against the table. The other girls looked up to find a few drunken huntsmen fighting and shoving each other. Once Ruby sat herself up, she brushed the food off her shirt and realized something terrible. The ring was no longer in her hands.

She panicked as she stood up form her chair, and dove under the table to try and find it. She saw the ring skid across the floor and land near the feet of one of the drunken huntsmen. Yang, Blake and Weiss were clueless as to what Ruby was doing. They wanted to help but if they got up it would bring the attention of the room to them too.

She crawled towards it, hoping to not be seen by anyone else, but then one of the men kicked the ring hard as he moved his foot, sending it flying towards a bar stool. The ring ricocheted upward above Ruby; some of the men in the room saw it go up. Ruby got up on her knees to try and catch it on the way down.

Just as her hands opened to catch it, the ring grew larger and went around her index finger, Ruby tried to move her finger to stop it from going all the way on but it wouldn't stop going up her finger. It then tightened around her finger once it reached the knuckle.

And in an instant, Ruby vanished before everyone's eyes. Both Raven and Jaune stood up from their stools in shock. "That idiot!" Raven hissed under her breath.

* * *

In the Emerald Forest, the three maidens waited for any sigh of the ring or it's power. Just then, Jadis opened her eyes sharply and looked to her 'sisters', " _ **You sense it too?**_ "

Jackie and Zyra nodded. Zyra opened her arms wide and began to fly as fast as she could to the source, while Jadis and Jackie rode off as fast as their horses could run.

* * *

Ruby was still on her knees, looking up at her hand. But what appeared to be different was that instead of being in well lit room, it was dark, and a loud wind rushed through.

She looked around and everyone were standing around her all looked to be in solid colors, some darker than others, she even looked to see team and saw them in their primary colors. **(AN: She was looking at the world as if everything around her was a 'World of Remnant' video.)**

She looked around in complete confusion, "Where am I?" She heard an echo of her own voice in this 'shadow world'.

" **You cannot hide from me…** "

Then she started to see an orange glow come from behind her. She turned around and saw what appeared to be a burning red eye, its 'pupil' was long like a cat's eye, and she could feel the heat coming off of it.

Then the pupil of the eye began to widen, and she saw a silhouette of a woman in the center. Once Ruby's eyes focused she could see the woman a lot more clearly. She appeared to be in a black kimono, her hair and skin appeared to be pail white, and had black roots creep right up from her hair to her eyes. Her eyes, they were black all around, but her irises were blood red and glowing bright.

Ruby knew, without a doubt, who she was staring at, the "Queen of Shadows", Salem. Ruby's fear began to grow when Salem started to smile at her, "I see you…"

Ruby tried to stand up but stumbled over something that was behind her. She then started to pull at the ring on her finger. It was tight, but not tight enough to stay on indefinitely. She tugged until the ring was all the way off. The moment the ring was removed form her finger; she was back in the real world.

Ruby slowly stood up, still trying to get her barring's. She was about to walk back to the table but was pulled on by the shoulder. She was then pushed against the wall and held there by the woman in the red hood, "For someone who's supposed to be hiding, you draw too much attention." The man in the black hood stood behind her, "We should leave."

Ruby felt she knew those voices, but she was still a bit dazed from her experience with the ring to know for sure whom they belonged to.

* * *

Ruby was then pushed into a room while the Raven and Jaune closed the door and turned out the lights.

"It took me years to learn the basic skills on how to hide in plain sight. But to vanish completely is almost impossible." Raven said as she removed her hood.

"Raven?" Ruby was shocked to find her of all people to be here. She then turned to the other under the hood, "And who is-?"

Jaune then removed his hood, "And that freelancer said I was bad at being discreet."

"JAUNE!" Ruby exclaimed as she ran up to him and hugged him hard. He quickly hugged her back and patted her head. "What are you doing here?"

Once they let go, Jaune gave relief, "Ozpin sent me to help. I am to be your escort to Rivendell."

Ruby looked around the room, "Where is Pyrrha?"

"Dealing with her own problems. What's happening here isn't just in Vale." Jaune said with a bit of anger.

Before Ruby could ask another question, the door burst open and revealed three huntresses whom were ready to fight, "LET MY SISTER GO, YOU BASTARDS!"

Ruby, Jaune and Raven all jumped at the sudden entrance, but then they relaxed. Yang, Blake and Weiss all relaxed as well when they recognized the friendly faces.

But then Blake cocked her head as she asked, "Jaune? You're Strider?"

Jaune nodded with a slight smirk, but then vanished when he heard Raven chuckling. "What?"

"'Strider?' That's the name you chose? Wasn't that your dog's name once?" Raven asked trying not to laugh.

And then Ruby started to laugh, "You… you… you named yourself after your dog?!"

Jaune hunched over and growled, "He was a _good_ dog!"

"AAAAAHAHAHAHA!" She then laughed harder, hard enough that she fell over and landed on her back laughing. Even Yang started to laugh a bit along with her. Blake started to chuckle at the fact that he used his dogs name as a cover name.

"Knock it off, Ruby. We need to be serious right now!" Weiss said with an annoyed voice.

"No-no! Let me HAVE THIS! I need a laugh! AAAHAHAHAHAHA" Ruby said as she raised her feet up with laughter.

Jaune didn't have the heart to stop them; given what's after them, they deserve this.

* * *

By the front gate to the village, the guard heard horses outside. Before he touched the window he looked down to see his breath. "What the hell?"

Then the gate began to frost over, and then the frost turned to ice. He backed away just when the gate shattered into hundreds of pieces of ice and wood. The shockwave from the explosion knocked him back and through a window behind him.

The two maidens then rode into the village slowly; they looked to find all the windows closing and all the lights turning out.

Overhead, Zyra flew over, she tried her best to smell for the four girls, but there were too many different kinds of sents in the air. She landed in the one place she felt the most drawn to. She waved her hand for her sisters to follow.

They walked into the Inn, and stood at the center of the bar. "She was here… this is where she put it on…" Jadis said as she knelt down and brushed her hand on the floor.

Zyra sniffed the air, "I think I have her sent." She then walked up the stairs to one of the rooms.

Jackie started to get excited, as she quickly followed Zyra without a word.

All three walked up to the door. Jackie held out her index finger and used her long fingernail to pick the door lock. They then quietly opened the door and walked into the room. There they found two queen sized beds with two people in each.

Zyra was about to jump on one of the beds in an attempt to surprise attack them, but Jadis stopped her. She then placed her hand on the ground. From there, four 'streams' of frost moved through the floor and under both beds. And then with a sudden shift of her hand, four ice spikes propelled straight up, impaling the beds, and the occupants in them.

Jadis did it as a means of weakening them all at once to take the ring. Afterwards they could have their way with them. But to all their disappointment, they discovered that the 'occupants' were really body pillows.

Jackie began to get extremely aggravated; she opened her mouth all the way and let out a screech that shattered all the windows, mirrors, the TV, and the ice spikes that were holding the beds up. " _ **AHHEEEEEEA!**_ "

* * *

Ruby and Blake both sat up straight form their beds. Yang and Weiss were both already awake and upright. Jaune and Raven were sitting at the chairs near the window. After their little incident at the Inn, they went to the building across the street and rented a room for the night.

The screech was so loud that it made them all feel chills run down their spines. Raven put her hands to her face and breathed in to keep them warm. Jadis' cold abilities could be felt all the way across the street.

* * *

Zyra scratched the wall next to her in irritation, " ** _WE WERE SO CLOSE!_** "

Jadis quickly garbed them both by their mouths to shut them both up. " _ **We are close… We know they were here, which means they are still close by.**_ " After she let them go, they both rubbed ice off their faces.

Jadis then walked out the door, " _ **Lets go.**_ "

" _ **What about the villagers?**_ " Jackie asked, " ** _I'm in the mood for killing…_** "

" ** _Salem ordered us to find the ring, not to start a massacre._** " Jadis said with a serious tone.

" ** _But we already caused one._** " Jackie says with a snicker.

Jadis then walked up to Jackie and grabbed her by the neck, " _ **The key to this mission is to not attract too much attention, or else the whole kingdom would be coming after us.**_ " She then lets Jackie go and walks past Zyra out the door.

" _ **So long as we get to make them suffer when we catch them…**_ " Zyra says as she licked one of her talons, which made it drip with a green liquid.

" ** _You'll get your chance soon enough._** " Jadis said as she led them out.

* * *

Form inside the window, Jaune and Raven could see two of the maidens get on their horses and ride off, while the third took to the skies.

"They're gone…" Jaune said with a sigh of relief.

Ruby climbed out of the bed and walked over to window and up to Jaune. She could still fell the cold on the window, "What are they?"

Raven sat back in her chair, "You sure you want to know?"

"Mom," Yang said, "If we're on the run from these things, we should know what we're up against…"

Raven sighed; she then looked to the frost on the window. "They were once humans… And then they became Maidens of the four seasons." Raven then listed each one with her fingers, "Winter, Spring and Summer. Each of them was from different generations, and like any other Maiden, they were given the gift of their season. One by one they turned on their code, and succumbed to their personal desires and greed."

Raven then pulled up pictures she had been given by Qrow that Penny took while encountering them at Minis Ithil. "This one is the Winter Witch; the Spring Harpy; and the Summer Banshee… They are the 'Nazgul'. Three of them anyway."

Jaune felt that it was his turn to tell the story, "There were two others that fell to the same darkness as them, but they weren't Maidens. The Black Knights of Mantle and Vacuo."

"What were they?" Blake asked.

Raven answered for Jaune, "They were Star Knights that abandoned their oaths and fell to their own darkness, like the Maidens. It's what Jaune could have become had you and your friends not pulled him out of it."

Jaune looked away, "But they aren't here… Salem must be using them somewhere else."

"Is that a good thing?" Weiss asked in confusion.

Jaune gave a rather hard look, trying to see the logic in Salem's strategy, but nothing could come to mind. "I don't know… But one thing is for sure. The Maidens are hunting you, Ruby, and they won't stop until they have the ring."

"Can they be killed?" Yang asked.

Raven smiled at her daughter's eagerness to fight, "Yes, but it is very hard. We tried to kill them before but they came back because of the Necromancer… but now that he's dead, I don't know…"

Jaune looked to the others, "Get some rest, we'll need it tomorrow."

He got no argument from them; however, it was hard for them to get any sleep after what they just saw.

* * *

They woke up at dawn, the sun wasn't in sight yet, but the cloud cover overhead was lighter. Everyone gathered at Yang's bike to discuss what to do next.

Raven pulled up a holo-map of the area in a 10-mile radius. "Ok, here is where the Nazgul are. They positioned themselves well, between us and the way to Rivendell."

"What's the plan?" Jaune asked.

"Well, I think the best way for you five is to get ahead of them again is for me to distract them." Raven says as she walks over to the bike Blake and Weiss were using.

"But they are after us, not you." Ruby says in confusion.

"They can only sense the ring if you wear it, but until then they have to use their eyes." Raven then gestures to her red cloak and hood, "They'll come after me, thinking it's you. Call me when you're on the road and I'll start the diversion."

Raven then starts up her bike, Yang then walks up to her and rests her hand on her shoulder, "Be careful."

Raven winks at her, and then turns to Jaune, "They're in your hands now; take care of them." She then revved up the engine and rode off.

Weiss then spoke up, "Um… How are we going to get to Rivendell now? We only had two bikes, and she took one."

Jaune smiled, "The rest of you can ride in my rover."

Jaune took them to a nearby parking garage that held his rover. It was a five-seated that had four-wheel drive, high horse power and strong skeleton. "If Nora were here, I'm sure she'd have an animal name for it." **(AN: It looks like a Halo Warthog, but instead of a rear turret it has three seats in the back, like a Jeep.)**

Ruby runs to the rover and sat in the front seat, "Why not call it, 'the Pitbull'?" Everyone looked to each other and agreed that it was a good name.

While Blake and Weiss were forced to sit in the back, after Ruby called 'shotgun' and refused to give up her seat, Yang rode in her bike. Jaune made sure to add five extra fuel tanks to the back in case they don't see any fuel stations on the way to Vacuo.

The two vehicles rode out of the village and down the roads to Vacuo. Jaune then pulled out his scroll and sent Raven the message, " **Now** ".

* * *

Raven got the message and then rode down the road where she knew they'd be. She could see the large shadow on the ground. It almost looked like a bird, but she knew better. Once she heard the screech form the Harpy, she turned hard and drove down a dirt road.

She then heard horses nearby; they were catching up to her. Just then she could feel the Harpy coming up right behind her.

Zyra landed right in front of Raven and jumped onto the front of the bike. She had her legs on the front while her claws were at the ready to strike. " _ **Found you!**_ "

Raven then looked up, allowing the wind to pull her hood back for her, revealing her face. Zyra gasped in shock. "Where you expecting someone else?"

Before Zyra could react, Raven quickly drew her sword and cut off Zyra's left arm, wing included, and then braked hard on the bike. Zyra was sent flying forward and crashed into a tree. Raven then gunned the engine and pulled a full one-eighty and drove between both Jadis and Jackie, not before getting scratched by the Banshee and hit with an ice block by the Witch. Raven shook off both their attacks and continued to ride away.

Jackie and Jadis rode their horses to Zyra; there they found her sitting in a decaying tree. Zyra stood up with full fury in her eyes, " _ **It was a DECOY! Damn it! I thought it was her!**_ "

" _ **There's only one reason I could think of on why they would use a decoy…**_ " Jackie said in a teasing fashion.

Jadis then growled in anger, " _ **They're back on the road.**_ " She then looked to Zyra, " _ **Your personal anger is costing us our mission; from now on you will wait for the rest of us before engaging.**_ "

" _ **Can't have all the fun to yourself, he-he…**_ " Jackie says with a chuckle.

Zyra cursed under her breath and got onto Jackie's horse. She won't be able to fly until her arm regenerates fully. Which is exactly what they had intended; with her grounded, she can't scout ahead anymore.

* * *

Jaune and Yang drove down the road at a high enough speed to feel safe. **(I would guess 80-95 miles per hour on any straight streets.)** They passed the mile marker that said, " **Now leaving the Kingdom of Vale** " and continued on down the road to Vacuo, again.

As they were driving, Ruby sat in the front seat, with her feet out the window and her hood over her head as she slept. Weiss was on her scroll, looking over the map of the road to make sure they were going the right way. Blake was reading a book she had brought along, she wasn't sure she would need it, but thanks to Jaune she got the chance to read it.

Jaune was more relaxed behind the wheel; he had his left elbow up on the door with the window open and his right hand on the top of the steering wheel. Yang was a bit tenser, given that she's riding a bike rather than a car.

"So I was completely invisible?" Ruby asked. They told her about when the ring was on her hand; she was surprised to learn that she went invisible when it happened.

"It was like you just vanished." Weiss said with a bit intrigue.

Blake raised an eyebrow, "I wonder why it would do that? I thought it wanted to be found… how could you find something invisible?"

"Whatever the reason, don't do it again. The Nazgul can find the ring when you put it on like a tower can track someone's scroll." Jaune said as he drove the rover.

They continued down the road for hours on end. They would only stop every few hours to stretch, walk around to get their legs moving and to refuel their rides. They packed enough food and field rations to last the trip to Vacuo.

Unlike before where it took them almost three days to get there, with the tower up and running and not in hiding from White Fang, they had a lot easier options to reach Rivendell. But the Nazgul were still a threat; they may be behind, but they are still following them on the road.

None of them had seen any signs of the Harpy in the air since they started; whatever Raven did worked more in their favor than they thought. But that didn't mean she won't be up there soon enough.

"I sure hope mom got away form them ok." Yang said on one of their breaks. She was stretching out her arms and legs.

Jaune was stretching his legs when he heard Yang say that. At first he was going to tell her what he would expect from someone like Raven, but she still didn't know the truth. In reality, he had no idea on how to tell her, or even if he should be the one to do it. Family, not a friend, should share something like that. "My father said she is a head strong warrior like you; she can handle herself, don't worry."

Yang couldn't help but smile at Jaune's attempt to ease her worries. Not long after that they got back into their vehicles and continued down the road.

As nighttime came overhead, Jaune started to yawn and feel a bit sleepy. He looked at his mirror to see Blake asleep, Weiss was still awake on her scroll, and turned to find Ruby asleep. Jaune wanted to go to sleep too, as would Yang, but they couldn't park on the road and sleep, the Nazgul would catch them before the sun would rise; they would need to find shelter for the night. "Hey, Weiss, are there any structures nearby we can stay in for the night?"

Weiss nodded as she pulled up a more geographical map of the area to look for suitable shelters. There were no villages or local farms to stay in, "I'm sure Beorn and Merida wouldn't mind letting us stay the night again." Sadly they were going in the opposite direction of Beorn and Merida's house for them to stay there for the night.

Weiss then saw what appeared to be an abandoned base that dated back to the Great War, called Weathertop, or Amon Sul. "I found a place. Turn left on the next dirt road and then go west. There's an old base on a hill top we can stay for the night."

Jaune nodded in agreement. Once he came up on the dirt road he slowed down so that Yang could see where he was turning off. After the turn they went west until they found the hills. Weathertop wasn't hard to miss.

It was a rather large hill in the middle of large grasslands. The hill made the base on top look like a watchtower. Jaune had no choice but to park at the bottom; luckily there was a stairwell that led up to the top.

Once Jaune parked he tapped Ruby to wake up, she fussed at first but eventually woke up to see the large hill tower in front of her, "Wow, where are we?" she asked as she yawned.

"Weathertop. This used to be a watchtower that was used in the Great War." Weiss said, as she looked it over in her scroll.

"The Sky knights used towers like these as look out points in the event Grimm tried to make any sudden attacks on nearby villages." Jaune said. He remembered reading about these in his family's history. "Luckily now we use the Grimm detection system through the towers to do that these days."

Blake yawned, "Oh good… Are we sleeping here?"

Jaune smiled, "Yup, now come on, get out of the car."

Blake hopped out and followed the others into the tower. They walked up the stairs until they reached a halfway point in the structure. There, they found an open cliff like area that had a full view of the grassland and beyond.

Jaune set down his stuff as they did. He picked up his sword and pistol and put them on his belt. "Where are you going?" Yang asked.

"I need to make sure the area is safe. You never know if Grimm could be nearby. I'll be back in a minute, try not to attract any attention to yourselves while I'm gone." Jaune said as he started to walk away.

Blake set her bag of cloths on the ground as a makeshift pillow and used her cloak as a blanket. She was fast asleep within seconds. While everyone else stated to gather rocks in a circle and collect sticks.

* * *

Blake could smell smoke, and burning pine. She quickie opened her eyes and rolled over to find Ruby, Weiss and Yang cooking food over a fire. She stood up suddenly, "What are you doing?"

All three women turned to her, Weiss was the first to speak, "Dawn is coming in a few hours, so I made an early breakfast. You want bacon or sausage?"

"There's plenty of both." Yang said while a piece of bacon was hanging out of her mouth.

"You idiots, put it out!" Blake said as she ran over to the fire and kicked it, snuffing out the flames.

"What's your deal?" Ruby asked as she pulled the hot pan away before Blake knocked it over with her stomping.

"Jaune said not to attract attention! It's still dark and you're lighting a fire?!" Blake said with irritation in her tone.

"Oh, come on, Blake. We lost those things at least a hundred miles ago, there's no way they could find us here." Weiss said with a smart-alecky tone.

" _ **AHEEEAH**_!"

Everyone froze instantly when the screech reached their eardrums. They all looked down to ground below and saw two shadowy figures moving towards the stairwell. Ruby looked down to see that she could see her breath again.

"They're here." Ruby then drew her weapon and converted it into its scythe mode. All the other huntresses drew their weapons and prepared for a fight. "We need to get to higher ground." Ruby said as she led them to the stairwell that leads to the top of the tower.

* * *

Once they reached the top they formed a circle at the center of the tower. The tower itself was wide enough for them to feel they have a home field advantage, but it was so dark it was hard to see beyond the stone pillars and broken brick walls.

"So there are three of them, and four of us. We can take them." Yang said as she cocked her Emerald Celicas.

Blake pulled out Gambol in katana form and held her sheath in her other hand, prepared to fight with both if need be.

Weiss drew her Myrtenaster and set it to wind dust.

Ruby loaded Crescent Rose with lighting bullets in the hope that it would affect all three of them.

As they waited they could feel the air getting colder, and a whistle in the wind. Blake was the first to see the Winter Witch come out of the darkness with ice forming around her. Weiss saw the Summer Banshee walk out with her teeth showing in a grin and her claws long and open. Yang and Ruby then were suddenly surprised to find the Spring Harpy land not too far from them, she had her talons open, with some kind of liquid dripping form them.

Blake moved first, going after the witch. Jadis formed an ice sword out of a ice spike that came up next to her and blocked Blake's first strike. " _ **Your fast… I fought faster…**_ " she then pushed Blake off and then shot several ice shards at her.

The shards stabbed Blake in the legs and the chest. Jadis was about to gloat on how easy it was until Blake vanished into thin air, " _ **What the?**_ "

Blake then came at her from behind in the hope to surprise attack her. Jadis moved her sword behind her back to block Blake's strike, " _ **You can clone yourself, impressive.**_ "

Jackie didn't want to wait any longer, she charged at Weiss at full speed. Weiss used her glyphs to propel her forward and tried to run Jackie through the chest with her sword. Weiss managed to stab Jackie in the shoulder, and she quickly grabbed onto her hand, Weiss tried to pull her hand out but the Banshee was too strong. " _ **Big mistake.**_ "

Jackie then let out a screech at Weiss' face. It only last for a few seconds before Weiss pulled up a small gravity glyph that forced Jackie's mouth together. She pulled her sword out and backed away in time before Jackie forced her mouth back open. Weiss' ears were still ringing though. "Ugh… I don't like your music…" Weiss then stabbed her blade into the ground and formed her construct of a giant Knight.

" _ **Ooh, shiny…**_ " Jackie said with a smile. She then quickly dodged the first swing of the knight's sword and then continued to do so. It may have been large, but it was slow.

Yang and Ruby moved in their own combo move; Yang fired as many shots as she could at the Harpy, while backed up and lined herself for a fast and strong swing of her scythe.

Zyra held her ground when Yang fired at her, and then she actually ran toward her and attempted to scratch her with her talons, hoping to get her with a neurotoxin. Yang tried to match her punch with the Harpy's swing of her claws, they both were moving fast. Yang blocked all her strikes by firing her shells every time their hands would have collided.

Yang then backed up quickly when Ruby zoomed in and swung her scythe at Zyra, in the hope of cutting her in half with the blade. Zyra blocked the blade with her talons and managed to stop Ruby's scythe in its tracks, " ** _Oooh, so close._** " Zyra said with a grin as she gripped onto the scythe and then pulled Ruby along with it.

She then through Ruby into yang, and then they both flew through a stone pillar. Zyra threw the scythe away and ran toward them to continue the fight but she was quickly met with a burning fist to the face. She was then sent flying toward the brick wall behind her and crashed right through it.

Jadis had just froze Blake's legs to the ground, as she tried to struggle, Jadis lifted her chin up and said, " ** _You are a fascinating one aren't you?_** " Jadis' attention was pulled away from Blake when she saw Zyra get blasted into a wall.

After blocking another attack form the giant knight, Jackie ran up its blade and decapitated it with her fingernails. On the way down form her jump she let out a powerful sonic wave that knocked Weiss unconscious. When she landed, she brushed her claws against Weiss' cheek, no cutting the skin, but just to feel it. " _ **Such pretty skin, I can't wait to watch it bleed.**_ " She raised up her hand and aimed for her throat, but her attention was drawn to Yang's sudden outburst of power.

Jadis and Jackie both stood side by side as they stared down the blonde girl with the flaming hair. Yang turned to them with burning red eyes; she put her fists together and then took her normal fighting stance.

Jackie ran at her first and tried to claw at her, Yang moved faster and hard than before, blocking Jackie's claws blow for blow. Much like she did with Zyra she fired a shell every time their hands would collide. Then Yang saw Jackie cut off a lock of her hair in the barrage of slashes. Yang quickly backed up and stared at the hair on the ground. Jackie looked at it and then back to Yang, " _ **Aw, did I damage your hair? I'm sorry… NOT!**_ "

Jackie charged forward but was quickly stopped when she was blasted in the foot by Yang's gauntlet, then in the chest, and then got an uppercut so hard it knocked a few of her teeth out.

Jadis then saw Jackie land right beside her, " _ **You're powerful… but that means nothing if you don't have the skill to match it.**_ " Jadis then formed two ice swords and stood in more of a defensive posture.

Yang came at her like a fireball and threw several jabs and one strong uppercut. Jadis blocked the jabs easily, and then blocked the uppercut. She then swung her blades at Yang's arms, aiming more for her weapons than her body. Yang then tried to fire a round at Jadis' chest but her left arm was caught by Jadis' hand.

The Witch then froze her weapon and then her arm, forming ice over it up to the elbow. Jadis then quickly elbowed Yang in the chest with her left arm; palm punched up the jaw, and then punched her in the chest.

When she was hit in the chest both times, ice formed over her chest, making her heavier and forcing her heart rate to lower to the point that the adrenaline was gone from her system.

Yang used her free hand to break the ice off her chest, but she was already starting to feel the first stages of hypothermia. She was breathing heavily and she didn't have the strength to stand up.

Jadis walked up to her, " ** _I know you don't have the ring, nor the girl with the bow._** "

Jackie stood back up and put her jaw back into place, " _ **The Atlas girl doesn't have it either.**_ "

Zyra climbed out of the broken bricks and walked out of the hole in the wall. " _ **Which leaves only one…**_ "

All three maidens turned to Ruby, who was standing at the broken pillar, seeing her sister and teammates at the mercy of these monsters. All three started to move towards Ruby with a creepy intent in their eyes.

Ruby pulled out her scroll and pressed the button with Jaune's picture on it. The scroll started to ring until it was hit by a shard of ice. She looked away for a brief second to keep the ice from hitting her eyes, when she looked back, there was a long ice stabbing through the scroll. Luckily it missed her hand, only by a few centimeters.

Ruby backed away, her weapon was right by the feet of the Harpy, and so she had no chance to grab it. She kept backing up until she tripped over a pile of rubble and landed on her butt.

Jadis walked ahead of Jackie and Zyra, " _ **You know why were are here… you know what we want… give us the Ring!**_ "

Ruby crawled backwards until she had her back to a wall. She was terrified; no weapon, her friends were beaten, and she had no way to contact Jaune. She then pulled out the ring in her pocket, " _If it makes me invisible, then they cant see me._ "

Jadis smiled when she saw the ring out in the open, but then her smile vanished when Ruby put the ring over her finger and vanished right in front of her.

* * *

In the shadow world, Ruby was still on the ground, looking up at the three maidens. But something was different, they weren't covered in shadows like the people in the bar were, they were normal. They looked human.

 _"This must have been what they used to look like…"_ Ruby didn't know how to react to this; they looked a lot more sympathetic.

Jadis turned her head slowly in both directions, as if she was looking for her, and then looked Ruby dead in the eye, " _ **We may not see you, but we sense you.**_ "

Jadis then held out her hand, and Ruby's hand started to get pulled towards her. The ring forced Ruby to hold her hand out, but she kept her hand in a fist to keep the ring from coming off her finger.

Jadis held her hand out, waiting for the ring to come to her. Ruby then pulled her hand back and held it close to her chest. Jadis then groaned in irritation as she stood up straight, " ** _Very well then…_** "

The Witch then pulled out a dagger from under her cloak and quickly came down and stabbed Ruby in her left shoulder. "AAAAHHHHH!" Ruby screamed in complete agony; the pain of being stabbed wasn't the only pain she felt, she felt her veins near the wound burning as if her shoulder was on fire.

* * *

Jadis gave kept her cold composure as she held her dagger in place, but then her attention was drawn above the wall and was instantly blinded by what she saw. She and the other two Nazgul backed away as they hissed and tried to cover the light form their eyes.

Through Ruby's eyes in the shadow world, she saw a man jump down from above; he had golden wings on his back that shined as bright as the sun. The three maidens backed away and tried to cover their eyes. Ruby heard a familiar voice shout through the shadows, _"Jaune?"_

* * *

Less than two minutes before the maidens attacked RWBY at the top of the tower, Jaune was walking through the grass field below. He killed a few wandering Grimm that came close. He even managed to find a good source of water that they could use tomorrow.

Jaune then looked up into the sky and marveled at the view, especially the way the stars shined. It wasn't often that he could see a clear sky, being that he's normally in the cities, and their lights overpowering the natural starlight. Jaune's sank when he heard a screech in the air. He turned around to find nobody there, but when he looked up at the sky over Weathertop, he saw a figure flying under the starlight. "No…" he whispered under his breath

Jaune then sprinted forward, he ran as fast as he could as he heard more screeches and gunshots in the distance. He used his aura to make himself run faster but it wasn't enough. "NO NO NO NO!" Jaune then felt the aura in his legs move up to his body.

Jaune then felt something dragging him back, when he looked behind him he saw his wings forming out of the yellow light of his aura. "Huh, they're back!" Jaune smiled at seeing his wings again, it had been years since he was able to get them to come out.

Jaune's smile went away when he felt his scroll vibrating, he looked to see it was Ruby calling, but the call ended before he could answer. Jaune then flapped his wings and gave a more determined look as he flew towards Weathertop.

Once he was over the tower, he could see Weiss, Blake and Yang all on the ground and incapacitated. He looked down to see all three maidens facing a wall, if he were to guess, Ruby was using the ring to be invisible. "But they'll still know where she is!"

Jaune angled his wings inward and dive-bombed at the tower. He then saw Jadis pull out a dagger and stab at the wall; he could hear a loud scream. Jaune used his wings to put his feet forward and kick the Witch in the face with both feet.

Jadis and the other maidens backed up and hissed as they shielded their eyes from his wing's light. Jaune held his bright yellow wings out wide and drew his sword and shield in a defensive posture, his eyes began to glow; making his blue irises shine like demands, "GET AWAY FROM MY FRIENDS!" Like when Jaune faced Cinder at the Spire, his voice sounded more resonated and almost sounded like more than one person was speaking.

 **(AN: Star Knight version of the Avatar State, if you get the reference)**

As they backed away, the light form Jaune's wings started to fade and not harm them as much anymore. It was like coming into the sun after being in the dark for too long, and now their eyes have adjusted.

Jadis looked at the wings and growled, " ** _You have got to be kidding me… Locus didn't say there was a Zenith in Vale!_** "

" ** _Who cares, lets KILL HIM!_** " Jackie shouted as she charged at him with her claws out and swinging.

Jaune lifts his shield up and blocks her attacks. He moved fast enough to block most of her blows, but whenever she got lucky, she hit him in either the shoulder or elbow with a light scratch.

" ** _Damn you! Hold still!_** " the Banshee shouted as she grabbed his shield with both her hands and tried to pull on him. Jaune swung his sword at her; she quickly ducked under his blade and scratches his right forearm. The cut wasn't too deep, thanks to his gauntlets.

She started to get angry, so she backed up, inhaled a lot of air and opened her mouth to let out a powerful screech. But before she could release her build up of air, Jaune swung his shield arm at the Banshee; the edge of his shield hit her in the neck, collapsing her windpipe.

She then began choking and coughing loudly, Jaune smirked as his eyes dimmed back to their natural look and his voice was normal again, "A mute Banshee, go figure."

Jaune quickly moved his shield to the left just in time to block a massive wave of super cooled air and ice shards. Jaune held his posture, even used his wings to stab into the ground to keep him from being pushed back.

Jaune then took a step forward, after stabbing one wing blade into the ground and then another and then another until he was right at the Witch. She then grabbed his shield and pulled it off his arm.

Jaune then swung his blade at her, aiming for her neck. Jadis held up two ice swords to block his blade. As Jaune holds her in a blade lock, he could feel her forming ice around his blade and down to his arm. Jaune let go with his dominant hand right when the ice was about to touch his hand.

Jaune squeezed his hand into a fist and then opened it, activating the magnetic glove, Jaune's desert Eagle detached form his magnetic holster and into his hand.

Jaune then pointed his gun at her legs and fired twice, one in each kneecap. Jadis dropped her swords and fell to her knees crying in pain. She looked down at her knees and looked to see them burning. " ** _What the hell?_** "

Jaune backed away and clashed the butt of his gun to the side of his blade, shattering the ice off his sword; he looked at the Witch with a witty smile, "Fire Dust, bitch."

As if on cue, Zyra clashed into Jaune and pushed him through a wall and off the ledge. Zyra tried to stab her talons into his back but Jaune's personal barrier kept the claws from breaking the skin, long enough for Jaune to break her grip and get her to let go.

Once he was free he opened his wings back up and flapped hard enough to land on the ground softly. Once he landed he looked up to see the Harpy floating above him. " ** _You may have wings, but_ I _own the skies!_** "

Jaune smirked and flapped his wings as he ran at her until he took flight again. He flew fast upward and swung his sword at her. Zyra blocked his blade with her talons; she then attempted to scratch with her foot talons.

Jaune backed away and spun around swinging his sword with more power. She blocked his attack but was knocked back a few feet away. Once she slowed herself down, she hovered.

They both then moved forward and collided, her sword holding his sword, and Jaune holding his pistol while holding the sword. For a split second he realized that his pistol was pointing in the general direction of her head and fired. " _ **AAAHH!**_ "

The fire Dust round grazed her left eye, leaving behind a fire in the cut. The fire burned her face, causing half of it to melt into glass. Due to the pain of the fire, she let go and flapped backwards, Jaune then shot her twice in her right wing, melting it into solid glass.

She then plummeted downward and crashed into the trees below. Jaune smiled at his half victory, he knew that wouldn't kill her, but he was sure it hurt like hell.

Jaune then flew toward the tower, he saw the Witch moving toward Ruby while Yang and the others were standing between Jadis and Ruby.

* * *

Yang managed to retain enough heat to move again; she then started to crawl towards Ruby. Ruby had already pulled off the ring and cried out in pain, giving Yang a chance to try and help her. "R-Ruby…" She was still shivering from the ice, but she was determined to get to her sister.

Weiss woke up and sat straight up with a painful headache. For a second she was afraid she could hear so she snapped her fingers near both her ears to see if she could hear them. "Oh thank Oum." She could hear the snaps.

Blake broke the ice that covered her feet with a rock she had nearby, once freed she picked up her sword and ran over to Yang. She helped her to stand right when Weiss reached them.

"RUBY!" Weiss shouted as they all ran to Ruby.

Ruby was shaking, holding her hand over her arm. Yang reached her and put her hand Ruby's arm, "Let me see how bad it is…" Yang said as she got ruby to remove her hand form the wound.

Yang looked at the wound and found it very familiar; it was black in the wound, and the skin around it had black roots spreading outward in all directions, "Oh no… This looks like when Sun's leg got hit with Adam's bullet…"

Weiss quickly moved to Ruby's left side and formed her healing glyph over the wound. It didn't heal the wound, but it seamed to easy Ruby's pain; she didn't cry as loudly when she placed the glyph over the wound.

All three of them then heard what sounded like someone groaning behind htem. They saw the Witch stand back up, weak on her feet, but moving toward them step-by-step. " ** _I… will not… fail her…_** " She was grunting in pain from walking on damaged legs, but she was determined to get to the Ring.

Blake and Yang stood up with their weapons at the ready. They didn't know if they had the strength to take her, but that wouldn't stop them from trying.

From the corner of her eye, Blake saw something glowing in the air and coming down towards them. She looked to see Jaune landing to her right, as he landed he pointed his pistol at the Witch.

"Don't try it…" Jaune said as he pulled the hammer back with his thumb.

Jadis looked to Jaune and grinned a devious smile, " ** _It doesn't matter… soon enough she'll be one of_ us _!_** "

Jaune gave her a cold glare (No pun intended), "Not today." Jaune first energized the bullet to be an explosive bullet and then fired. The fire dust round flew toward Jadis glowing like a lighting bug.

When the bullet made contact with the Witch's face, it exploded in a loud blast. The fire Dust ignited on her face, setting it on fire, " ** _AAAAAHHHHHH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!_** " she screamed as she backed away and fell on her back. She then turned over, quickly picked herself back up and ran away form the group.

Jaune turned to the girls and ran toward them, dropping both his weapons and going down to Ruby. "Oh my god…" He looked at the wound with sadness and fear in his eyes. He picked up the blade Jadis dropped when he arrived, "She used a Morgul Blade on her."

The moment he picked it up, the blade disintegrated into dust. Jaune then picked Ruby up from the ground and carried her bridal style, "We can't heal her, but Headmaster Elrond can."

As he walked way with her, Weiss and Blake picked up their weapons and his as they followed him down the tower.

* * *

Once outside, Jaune placed Ruby in the seat behind the driver seat. "Weiss, your glyph can slow the poison, so sit in the back with her. Yang you take the map and navigate for us. Blake, you drive Yang's bike."

"I can drive my bike!" Yang said with an angered tone.

Jaune then looks to Yang, "You're still recovering from the ice, you wont' be able to ride. Now get in the car."

Blake set Jaune's stuff in the back and took Yang's keys. She walked over to the bike and put Yang's helmet on her head. Yang was given Weiss' with the map to Rivendell already programed in. Weiss climbed in back and put a blanket over Ruby while holding her green glyph over her shoulder.

As Blake was starting the bike up, she couldn't help but ask, "Jaune, we're still a day from Rivendell… Can we make it?"

Before getting into the car, Jaune gave Blake a worried look, "We have to _try_." He then climbed into the car and started the engine. He put it in reverse and then turned the car around until it was facing the dirt path, switched to third gear and gunned it.

Blake did the same and rode up next to the car; she tried her best to be far enough away to be safe from hitting them. She might know how to ride a motorcycle, but she never rode one at such high speeds.

Weiss kept Ruby's wound covered, and as she was holding onto the wound she could see Ruby crying, tears were dripping down her tightly closed eyes. For a second there, Weiss thought she heard Ruby whisper something softly in her pain, "Mommy…"

* * *

 **AN: AND CLIFFHANGER!**

 **Sorry, had to do it.**

 **Don't worry, there is a part three after this, and those three Nazgul aren't done yet!**

 **Hope I didn't go overboard with how I did the fight, but I felt that if those Nazgul had fogugh against someone who could match them in a fight, it would be a lot like that.**

 **Looking forward to the next chapter.**

 **Until then, ARKOS!**


	7. Great Escape, part 3 Race to Rivendell

**Great Escape, part 3 "Race to Rivendell"**

* * *

 **Evaknight075AN: The Freelancers are from my partner's story, Breakawayfan, if you want to read it, look up "Knights of Remnant: War in the West"**

 **AN: As I promised, the third part in the three-part race to Rivendell.**

 **I think you guys will like my version of how things turn out.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

(Set in the same night the Nazgul arrived at Sequoia.)

"Haven Academy has been cleared of prying eyes; we await your next command, my queen." Saruman says as he rests his hand on the Palantir. Inside the crystal ball, a red glow began to sparkle in center, and then a pair of red eyes could be seen.

 **"Build me an army worthy of Mordor."**

Saruman removed his hand and then bowed his head to the ball, "As you wish, your grace."

"What did she say?" Saruman turned around to see Locus standing behind him with his arms crossed and leaning his back against the elevator door.

"We have work to do…" Saruman said with a gleam in his eyes.

* * *

Ozpin suddenly opened his eyes and found himself stuck in a dark room. The room was large enough for a group of people, but he was alone. There was a large window with steel bars on it; beyond it he could hear crashing sounds and chatter. Once he gathered the strength to stand he looked out the window to see what was making that noise.

From the window he could see that he was in one of the high levels of Mistral's tower, looking down at Haven Academy. It's trees were all being torn down, root and stem. He could see dozens of people pulling them down and cutting at the roots. After getting a good look, he recognized one of the workers to be a goblin. _"That son of a bitch, he has goblins working for him?!"_

* * *

Down below, Saruman was supervising the work the goblins were doing. Locus was watching from the tower's main entrance, he didn't much care for trees, but he didn't like goblins any less. _"Why the queen want's these_ creatures _on our side, I cannot fathom,"_ Locus thought to himself, _"but it's her orders."_

One of the goblin workers walked up to Saruman with a concerned look, "The trees are strong, my lord. Their roots go deep."

"Rip them all down. I want the school cleared of any trees by the end of the week, and get your metal workers on those factory projects." Saruman said as he walked away. The goblin worker bowed his head and got back to work.

Saruman walked up to Locus, "You seam displeased…"

"Orders are orders, from the queen." Locus said, "I'm not questioning them…"

"But?" Saruman asked. He could tell something was eating away at Locus.

"But goblins? They aren't even worth the money in mercenaries, let alone a workforce." Locus spat quietly.

"True, what the Goblins lack in combat, they more than make up for in ingenuity and resourcefulness." Saruman said with a bit of a smile.

"Maybe… but I still don't trust them," Locus says as he crosses his arms.

"You don't have to, my friend. Trust me." Saruman said, as he was about to rest his hand on Locus' shoulder.

To Saruman's surprise, Locus caught and gripped tightly, "Trusting in cowards is like betting on the underdog, and that doesn't always pay off."

Saruman pulled his hand out of Locus' vice grip, "You'll soon find that your bet was well chosen. And I am not a coward; I am a realist. Like yourself." Saruman then motions Locus to follow him up the tower.

* * *

(Fast forward to the night of the Weathertop battle)

It only took them a day and a half and the goblins managed to clear out all the trees in Haven Academy. After they had cleared out the trees, they used the lumber to build facilities and factories. They reinforced the outside walls and posted guards up along the wall.

With the trees cleared, the goblins did what they did best and they dug downward. Like Beacon, Haven Academy was built over what was once a fortress; however, this one had a rather shady past.

Long before Mistral took full control Anima, Sauron once had a post in the continent. It was a fortress known as " ** _Isengard_** ". With the goblin's skill in digging and repurposing ancient tools for modern purposes, they turned the labyrinth beneath Haven into some kind of factory of their own making.

Hammers could be heard echoing in the cave system, pounding on heated steal over anvils, the sound of Dust being carved and crafted on carving mechanisms. Whatever Saruman had planned for Haven, he intended it to become a factory of war.

* * *

Ozpin sat with his back against the wall, staring out the window; he could see a full moon hiding behind the clouds. "Saruman… what have you done?" He saw the abominations his old friend did to the once beautiful school.

Ozpin then closed his eyes and though, "I only hope Jaune got to Ruby in time."

* * *

Meanwhile, down below the surface, Saruman and Locus were exploring the tar pits below.

There were hundreds of Grimm coming down to the pits. First they were drenched in some kind of green liquid, then injected with human blood, and then placed in the mud pit. As they moved around in the mud pit, they began to melt into goop, mixing with the mud.

Saruman then turned to the goblin workers, "Begin."

Then the goblins through full body skeletons of humans into the black tar. As they sank beneath the surface of the goop, several green lights began to shine in the muck. Then a hand creped out of the mud and grab onto the ledge.

Then a whole body came up behind the hand and crawled out of the mud. The creature appeared to have a slight humanoid body from the waist up, its hands had long talons, and its feet were like dog feet. Its head had a more human distinction, however it had a snout and pointed ears the top of its head to show it's more animal side.

It would appear this creature was bread from what was once a Beowulf. It shook itself to remove all the excess mud off its body and then howled. Just as a goblin walked up to the creature to inspect it, it was grabbed by the neck and strangled.

Locus reached down to his side arm but was stopped by Saruman's arm. When Locus looked at the creature again it dropped the dead goblin and growled.

"Perfect…" Saruman said with pride.

* * *

Ruby was breathing heavily, as if a great weight was over her chest. She felt cold, yet she could tell she was sweating. She looked all around and saw the night sky over her head. She looked around and saw Yang over her, holding her head in her hand.

"Look, Ruby. We found the trolls." Yang said as she tilted Ruby's head to see the trolls behind her. The trolls were still whole, slightly cracked, but still holding together. There were vines and roots grown over the bodies, there was even grass growing over their feet. "We're almost there."

Weiss kept her green glyph over Ruby's shoulder, trying her best to keep the poison from getting worse. She then brushed her hand over Ruby's forehead and it felt like she was rubbing on sleek ice, "My, god. She's going cold!"

Jaune and Blake were filling the vehicles up with more fuel while they waited. Jaune looked to Ruby form the fuel tank and could see the sweat dripping from her face, "Her body is succumbing to the poison."

"How is it killing her? I have my glyph set to heal the same as it did for Sun, but it's not working…" Weiss said as she held her glyph closer to Ruby's wound.

"It's not killing her… the poison is meant to corrupt the soul and the body, soon enough it will drive her mad and turn her into one of them." Jaune said as he closed the fuel tank.

Jaune then turned to Blake, "Blake, remember that plant Winter used to save Sun?"

"I think it's called 'King's Foil? Some kind of weed with silver leaves?" Blake said with the best of her memory.

"It, plus Weiss' glyph, should buy us enough time to reach Rivendell." Jaune said as he put the tank down on the truck. "Help me find it." Jaune said as he motioned for Blake to follow.

* * *

Blake didn't waste any time helping Jaune look for the weed. As they were searching the surrounding bushes, they tried to find the signs of the Foil. Just when Jaune reached a large bush, he saw some leaves that look like the Foil. "Over here…"

Blake ran up to the bush with him and started cutting the vines off. Just as Jaune was about to cut a few more, he felt a cold blade rest on the back of his neck. "You know… you're the first Star Knight I've ever caught off his guard…"

Jaune almost didn't recognize the voice, but when he turned to see the owner of the blade, he couldn't have been happier. Blake on the other hand was a bit confused.

* * *

Weiss had Yang help her take Ruby form the car seat to the ground so that she could be able to lay down fully, giving her body more room to move and feel more comfortable.

As Ruby felt her body in the ground, she could feel herself falling into the darkness around her. It wasn't until a bright light shined behind the car. She turned her head to see a woman riding in on a horse.

The light around her was like sunlight, shining bright enough that Ruby's eyes had to adjust before she could see the woman's face. It wasn't until she dismounted and made her way to Ruby.

Once the woman approached Ruby, she could hear her voice echoing, " _Ruby Rose… I am Arwen. I have come a great distance to help. Please hear my voice… come back from the darkness…"_

Ruby looked at her with slight intrest, "Why are you glowing so bright… are you some kind of angel?" Her voice was hazy and quiet, almost like a forced whisper.

What she didn't know was that while she saw Arwen glowing, everyone else saw her in the normal light from the moon above. "Jaune, who is this? And why does Ruby think she's an angel?" Yang asks with a bit of confusion in her tone.

Arwen and Jaune reached Ruby with the kings foil weed in hand, Jaune ripped it up to expose the liquid inside, "She is Arwen, the our current Summer Maiden."

Weiss looked at Arwen's arms, they appeared to be covered with feathers from her elbows down to her wrists. They didn't appear to be apart of her clothing, seeing as they were separate from a short-sleeved vest she was wearing, "Why does she have feathered sleeves?"

Blake caught up to them and handed her bundle of the weed to Jaune, "She's a Faunus."

Weiss was surprised to find an aviary Faunus; they were very rare as far as she knew. She then looked down and saw them drip the liquid form the kings foil onto the wound, and then placed her green glyph over Ruby's shoulder right as Ruby grunted and gasped at the pain.

"She doesn't have much time… This only bought her a few more hours, beyond that, and she will be too far gone." Arwen said as she gestured Jaune to help her lift Ruby up form the ground.

Jaune followed Arwen's lead and brought Ruby to the hours, "I've been looking for you for two days. There are three of them hunting you, where the other two are, I don't know."

"I know, I scared them off at Weathertop. As far as I know, it's just the maidens. I don't think they brought the Knights with them." Jaune said as he lifted Ruby onto the horses settle.

Arwen looked to Jaune with confusion, "Are you sure?"

"Positive. I would have felt them if they were here." Jaune said with full confidence.

"I can take her from here." Arwen said as she tightened the satle on the horse.

"We have a fast car… I can take her on my bike if I have to…" Yang said in desperation.

"I am sorry, Ms. Xao Long, but going through the main road would take too long. I know another path, but you're bike can't take the off-road we'll be going through." Arwen said as hse raised her hand to Yang. "I know you want to protect your sister, but the only way now is to let me take her from here."

Just as she hopped onto the horse, Jaune had to warn her, "They won't stay away after you get her away from me. How will you get to Rivendell safely?"

"Once I reach the main river, Rivendell's magic will do the rest." Arwen said as she turned her horse down the path.

Yang ran up to the horse and put her hand on Ruby's, she looked ruby in the eye, with a few tears dripping form her face, "I'll see you there…"

Ruby didn't have the strength to speak, but she was able to force a smile. Just as was about to kick her horse he clipped Ruby's weapon onto the back of her belt, Arwen gave him a confused look as he smiled, "What's a huntress without her weapon?"

Arwen nodded her head with a small smile as she kicked her horse to gallop away. Jaune then pulled Yang back so that when Arwen kicked the horse to run, she wouldn't get hit.

And just like that, Ruby and Arwen rode off into the forest. Yang then turned to Jaune, "Do you think they'll make it?"

Jaune couldn't make her feel worried, and he couldn't give her false hope either, that wouldn't have been fair, so he said the only thing he could think of, "They have to…"

* * *

Dawn came quickly for the two on the horse. Arwen took her and Ruby though a goat path through the forest and into the more mountainous region that leads to Rivendell. Ruby had never gone down this way, so as they rode on, she didn't recognize her surroundings too well.

The poison from her wound didn't help either. She could feel herself fading, little by little.

Arwen shouted over the horse trots, "We're almost there, Ruby!" And as if on cue, they both heard a loud screech in the air behind them.

" ** _AAAAAHHHHHEEEA!_** "

Arwen looked over her shoulder and saw a woman on horseback, wearing a pink cloak. Arwen kicked her horse harder to get him to run faster through the brush.

Just as she made a turn around some large rocks, Arwen heard a different screech form above in front of her. She looked up to see a purple-cloaked harpy flying toward her. Had Arwen not reacted fast enough, her head would have been cut off.

But harpy managed to get a blow in before she fully passed them by; she swung her talons up Arwen's back. They didn't go deep, but the venom that she hit her with made her eyesight look hazy. _"Damn it… Must be a neurotoxin…"_ She thought as she whipped the reins harder.

After a few more turns, Arwen noticed that another horse was riding up beside her; she could feel the cold coming off the rider and knew it was the Witch. She drew her sword just in time as she blocked several ice shards Jadis shot at her.

Jadis kicked her horse harder to try and reach ruby, but was knocked back when Arwen elbowed her in the face, breaking her nose. At the same time, Arwen shined a bright light in her eyes, partially blinding her.

As Jadis backed off to cover her eyes and push her nose back into place. Jackie rode up and tried to reach for Ruby, only to be blocked by Arwen's blade and engage in a fast traveling sword-to-claw fight. " ** _He-he! You can't ESCAPE US!_** " Jackie said with a devious smile as she gripped her claws around Arwen's sword.

"Watch me!" Arwen said as she pulled her sword out of Jackie's grasp and made a quick turn away from Jackie, Jackie then looked ahead of her to see a thick branch close line her and knock her off her horse.

They made it to a clearing, which gave Arwen's horse a chance to run at top speed, but this made it easier for the Harpy to get to them. Arwen could hear the Harpy coming up behind them; she lifted her sword up above her head to block one of Zyra's talons and then pushed her off.

She then shined a bright light in her eyes, this time it was brighter than the sunlight surrounding them. This made Zyra use both her hands to cover her eyes form the blinding light, resulting in her crashing into the ground hard.

Arwen managed to get far enough ahead of them to reach where she wanted to go; she rode her horse down a hill and into a riverbed that was at low tied, low to the point there was barley any water.

Once inside the riverbed she turned around to find both the horses stopped at the edge and the Harpy floating above them. Jadis had her horse walk up to the edge of the river bed and pointed her finger at them, " ** _You proved yourself quite capable, I commend you… But we_** **still** ** _need the girl… Give her up and we'll let you live._** "

Arwen then drew her sword again and held it high, "If you want her, come get her!" She kept her contempt look on her face as she stared down the Winter Witch.

Jadis smiled as she held her hand out and formed an ice sword. She then kicked her horse to move into the riverbed, with Jackie and Zyra following in behind. To the Nazgul it would appear that they have Arwen cornered.

As they entered the riverbed, Arwen started to mutter to herself, speaking in some kind of language that Ruby had never heard before. " _Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer!_ "

Just then the riverbed's water level started to rise, Jadis then looked up river and saw a large tidal wave moving toward them. She then made a smile as she formed an ice spike and shot it right at the wave's center. " ** _ICE SEED!_** " The moment the ice spike hit the water, ten inches of ice formed at the front of the tidal wave, making a rather sizable ice-dam.

Arwen's face showed complete shock as she saw wall of ice form. She then looked to Jadis who gave her a devious smile, " ** _Never bing water to an ice fight…_** "

Arwen then dismounts her horse, "I'm sorry Ruby, looks like I'm not going to be joining you. Take the horse up the dirt path behind us, he knows the way to Rivendell from there." Ruby grabs onto Arwen's shoulder but had no strength to speak. Arwen removed ruby's hand and placed it on the reins, "It's ok… really…"

Arwen then walks away as her horse turns around and starts walking up the dirt path. Arwen steps into the lakebed as the water begins to drop down again from being cut off at the source. But then a column of water formed behind her and then formed over her hands.

" ** _So your powers include both sunlight and water… something tells me you're not an ordinary fighter…_** " Jadis said with an impressed smirk.

"I am the Summer Maiden, Arwen Halfelven!" She said as she held her sword in a two handed stance.

" ** _HAHA! You? A Summer Maiden?_** " Jackie asks with a playful smile, " ** _I am the Summer BANSHEE! AAAHHH!_** " She screeched at the last part of her name.

Arwen formed water over her ears to block out the screech and charged forward. Just when Jadis was about to use that same 'quick freeze' move again. Arwen swung several water whips at them, forcing them off their horses.

Jackie backed off and then let out another screech, just as Zyra flew in to tackle her and burry. Arwen blocked Zyra before she could try to dig her talons into her skin, but she was given the full blast from Jackie's screech.

* * *

Ruby and the horse were still in earshot of the fight, Ruby could hear Arwen struggling with them, and she knew that she wasn't going to last, Maiden or not. Ruby 'got off' the horse, more like dropped. The horse immediately stopped and waited for her to get up and lean on it. "We… We have… to help…" She pulled on the horse to turn around and go back.

As they walked to a high point from dirt path, they could see the sight below. Ruby could see that Arwen was struggling to defend herself; she couldn't even get any blows in.

Ruby looked up at the ice wall, _"That water… maybe the reason why she was able to use those words to call it was because it was enchanted, like the water at Lake Town and Beacon."_ Ruby then looked to the Nazgul, _"And it might burn them the same way it did Smaug…"_

Ruby unclipped her weapon but it was too heavy to lift in her hands, let alone to aim. She then looked at the horse, "I have an idea, but you may not like it."

* * *

Arwen shined light at Jackie, but was then knocked down by a block of ice that was thrown at her from the left side. Jadis then formed ice on her feet, pinning her to the ground.

" ** _I wonder, would a Maiden's power go to an old user who's already dead?_** " Jadis asks her subordinates. Jackie gave a rather devious smile, " ** _Lets find out!_** "

* * *

Ruby had the horse stand between her and the ice wall. She had Crescent Rose in full scythe mode, resting over the horse's saddle. She was using it as a stand to properly aim her rifle at the center of the ice wall, right where Jadis threw her 'ice seed' and loaded a fire Dust round into the chamber of the rifle.

"Ice freezes water… Fire melts ice…" Ruby then pulls the trigger and fires her shot at the ice wall. The kick from the gun pushed Ruby back off the horse and onto her back. She groaned to the pain.

* * *

Down below, the gunshot echoed thought the riverbed. All the Nazgul looked up to see their enemy's horse above.

While Arwen looked up the riverbed and saw the fire Dust burning in the center of the ice wall. Jadis then turned back to Arwen, " ** _Stupid girl, she wasted her shot._** "

As all three Nazgul looked to Arwen, they were confused to find her smiling at them. " ** _What are you smiling about?_** " Zyra asked.

"Maybe she wasn't aiming for you?" Arwen asked.

All three then hear a loud cracking sound and then look behind them to see the ice wall breaking apart and the tidal wave flowing right toward them.

Using the distraction, Arwen formed a water whip to grab her sword and pull it towards hewr and then break the ice on her feet. Just as Jadis was about to form another seed, Arwen used her water whip to pull on Jadis' feet and knock her down, face first into the rocks.

Jackie and Zyra were just about to make a run for the hills, but Arwen slashed at Jackie's legs to make her go down. And as the wave reached them, Zyra tried to fly straight up, only for her carry Arwen with her.

Arwen pushed herself to be above Zyra, once above she opened the feathers on her arms outward to make her glide down to Zyra.

" ** _YOU'RE A FAUNUS TOO?!_** " Zyra exclaimed.

Arwen smirked as she swings her sword at one of Zyra's wings, cutting her feathers in half. "And never come back!"

Zyra screeched in anger as she fell uncontrollably and landed in the rapid water flow below. Arwen used her arm feathers to glide down to the horse and Ruby. She took one last look at the river to see the three Nazgul being carried down river by the enchanted water.

* * *

Arwen turned back to ruby with a smile, "Thank you, Ruby! You saved my life!" Arwen then saw Ruby was on the ground, breathing fast, her body was shaking.

"RUBY!" Arwen ran to her, "No! NO! DON'T GIVE IN TO THE PAIN!" Arwen picked Ruby up and placed her back onto the horse and rode as fast as she could up the trail.

As they were riding, she placed her hand over Ruby's heart, there was a small glow emitting from her handprint over Ruby's chest, Arwen began to whisper, to whom Ruby had no clue. "With what light is within me… Let it go to her… Let it save her from the darkness…"

As Ruby's eyesight began to fade, everything began to go white. She could hazily see Rivendell, but she couldn't see clearly. She then heard a familiar voice, it was Headmaster Elrond speaking, he sounded like he was standing over her.

As the light grew brighter for her, she lost consciousness.

* * *

Meanwhile in Haven Academy, at the top of the main tower in the Headmaster's office, Saruman was 'punishing' Ozpin.

"A friendship of Saruman is not lightly thrown aside." Saruman said as he through Ozpin across the room. "I am willing to let it pass if you join me, old friend… Like in the old days."

Ozpin lifted himself up and spat out blood, "You've betrayed _us all_ , just to save your own skin…" Ozpin then looks up to him, "And if she were to get what she wants, the salvation you'll get would be no different than the damnation the rest of us will receive."

Ozpin then got back up quickly and tackled Saruman before he could react. Ozpin pulled his cane off of Saruman's belt and then jumped out a window. Ozpin then formed his green sphere and flied away from the tower.

Saruman got back up ran to the window. He looked behind him and saw Locus just standing there with his arms crossed. "What are you doing? SHOOT HIM DOWN!"

"You told me to stay out of whatever you had planned for him…" Locus then walked to the elevator, "And besides, it won't be my ass on the line when Salem catches wind of this."

Saruman then turned to the window and growled, he took one long look at Ozpin as he was leaving. "And so you have chosen, death…"

* * *

About twenty miles from Rivendell, the three Nazgul washed up on the side of the river that swept them away. All three of the Maidens crawled out of the water, slowly regenerating from their burns.

Jadis had to regenerate half her face from the enchanted water and fix some of her limbs due to the damage she received from the rocks under the water down stream. She had to push her bones in alignment just so that ice could frost over and repair the damage.

Zyra regenerated his left foot and her wing that was damaged by Arwen's blade. She put her hand in the dirt and sand along the riverside and absorbed it like a sponge in water, only it was sand into her body. The sand formed over her leg and her arm and repaired the damage as if it was never there.

Jackie's lips were gone completely; right before they regenerated you could see all her sharp teeth, she also lost parts of her left arm. Her healing came slowly, but the first she could fully heal was her lips, she licked them a few times to make sure she could feel them properly.

Zyra looked up stream, " ** _That damn CUNT! I'm going to poison her so badly, she won't even decay!_** "

Zyra started to walk back up the river but was stopped when Jadis grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her back. " ** _Stop it!_** " Once Zyra stopped she let go, " ** _It's over."_**

" ** _But Madam Salem ordered us to fetch the ring for her…"_** Jackie said as she was slipping in the mud trying to stand up.

Jadis then pointed to the river beside them, " ** _We barley survived being in that for a few hours. And Rivendell has an entire reservoir waiting for us to come there and try…_** "

" ** _We'd never make it… and the Zenith would be there by now…_** " Zyra said with anger in her tone. She wanted more than anything to go in there and get them, but she knew better than to go on a suicide mission.

Jackie looked up the stream and then back to the other two, " ** _Salem's not going to like this…"_**

Zyra nodded in agreement, " ** _Well… I suppose it isn't too much to hope that the others didn't fare so well in their tasks?_** "

Jadis rolled her eyes as she began walking into the woods, with the other two following. Jackie started to giggle at the thought of the two knights screwing up their tasks, " ** _You know what? I wouldn't be surprised if Rourke messed up his job."_**

Zyra laughed, " ** _My bet is on Radcliffe. If he failed it would mean things were going to be harder for our lady, but it would be worth it to see that smug arrogant look on his face get replaced by fear._** "

" ** _We'll find out when we return, come on, keep up!_** " Jadis said with an annoyed tone. She may be fearful about their failure, but she did have a slight hope that someone else failed worse than they did.

* * *

Ruby could feel her chest feeling a lot lighter than she remembered, which meant that the poison is gone. She could hear two people talking in the room she was in; they were both men.

"W-Where am I?" Ruby asked with a weak voice.

"You are in Rivendell. And it's 10 am if you're curious." One of the men said.

She immediate recognized the man's voice, "Uncle Qrow?" She lifted herself up fast and ended up paying for it. Her back was aching. "Ah!"

"Easy, kiddo." Qrow said as he slowed her down. "You've been out for almost three days now, your body hasn't fully recovered."

"Three days?" Ruby asked, she then turned to the other man and found it to be, "Professor Ozpin!"

"It's good to see you, Ms. Rose." Ozpin said with a smile.

Ruby tried to sit up higher but only brought more pain to herself. "Easy, Ruby, you're lucky you survived as long as you did, Ruby." Qrow said as put a pillow behind her. "But if you had been in that state an hour longer and you would have been gone."

"RUBY!?"

Everyone turned to the doorway to find Yang running in and jumping onto Ruby's bed. "THANK OUM YOU'RE OK!" she was hugging Ruby so hard.

"YANG! CAN'T BREATH!" Ruby shouted as she got Yang to let go.

"You're sister never left your bedside." Ozpin said with a joyful tone.

"He he, we practically had to pry her away from your bed in order to get her to eat." Qrow said with a smile.

"Well she scared the living crap out of us! Which reminds me…" She then punches Ruby, on the not wounded shoulder with her natural hand. "That's for getting us so scared."

"It's a good thing Headmaster Elrond still has his healing skills…" Qrow said with a smile as he turned to Elrond at the doorway.

Ruby looked to see him enter, "Headmaster Elrond."

"Ruby Rose, welcome back to Rivendell." Elrond then held his hand out to Ruby, "And thank you for saving my daughter."

"Arwen is your daughter?" Ruby asked with complete shock. Ruby was then surprised to find Arwen walk in behind him.

She then did a curtsy, "I owe you a great dept. for your bravery, thank you." Arwen said with a smile.

* * *

 **AN: And that's where I'm ending it.**

 **I am sorry that this chapter is a short one, but this is as far as I could go before we get into what I have planned for the next chapter.**

 **The journey to Rivendell is over; next we will have the reunions!**


	8. Secret Meeting in Rivendell

**Secret Meeting in Rivendell**

* * *

 **AN: Now that we've got the race to Rivendell over with, time to continue the story.**

 **I am SO SORRY for taking so long, but I had a lot of personal stuff hit me at once.**

 **I hope to go back to my usual schedule from here on out, but it's anyone's guess at this point. Believe me, I'm sad about it too.**

 **In this chapter there are a few OCs from my partners in this story and a fan that helped me to find my focus in this story again.**

 **Anyway! Here is the story!**

* * *

Ozpin, Elrond and Qrow were in Elrond's office, overlooking Rivendell and Shade Academy. As they were talking, Elrond could see Ruby and Arwen walking together in the gardens below with the other members of RWBY.

"She is doing remarkably well…" Ozpin said as he took a sip of coffee.

"Her wound will heal, but there will be a scar." Elrond said as he walked away from the window. "A rather sizable scar…"

"Will it bother her? Like any residual pain?" Qrow asks.

"She may feel a pinch, but nothing more." Elrond said as he pointed at his shoulder, where it would be for Ruby. "It is incredible that she has come so far, and still show complete immunity to the ring's evil…"

"Silver Eyed warriors were once well known to be immune to curses. I am glad to see that the immunity is just as strong now." Ozpin said with a bit of relief in his tone.

"Then I suppose we know who will safe guard it." Elrond said with a contempt look on his face.

"Absolutely not! She's done." Qrow said with a defensive tone.

"Qrow-" Ozpin was cut short by Qrow's yelling.

Qrow slammed his hands on Elrond's desk, knocking over a few books and flag stands, "She almost got turned into one of those things and lost her life. She's done from here on out!"

"Qrow, the Ring cannot stay here!" Elrond said with a bit of an annoyed tone.

"What do you mean it can't stay?" Qrow then pointed out the window at the waterfalls, "There are hundreds of gallons of enchanted water that can keep this place hidden and safe."

"If what Ironwood says is true, that ALL the Nazgul are back, then that would mean Radcliffe Smith is back too." Elrond said as he sat in his chair, "His fortress of Carn Dum will most likely be where he will begin the campaign for Vacuo, which would mean that Rivendell will be in his crosshairs."

"And with Saruman's betrayal, Haven Academy has already fallen to Salem's rule." Ozpin said bitterly.

"Our list of allies grows thin every day." Elrond said with anger in his tone. "And I know for a fact that as we speak, Salem has the Eye of Sauron pointed at us!"

Ozpin spoke up, "Saruman's betrayal is more deeper than the loss of a school… He's crossbreeding monsters together into some kind of creatures I've never seen before; he's _breeding_ an army!" Ozpin then placed his scroll down the desk to project an image of Haven Academy, "He's dug deep into the foundation of Haven and reawaken the caverns of Isengard."

"And the fact that 'Locus' mercenary is working for him only proves that he's in league with Salem." Qrow said with a hiss in his voice.

Ozpin then sat down in one of the seats in front of Elrond's desk, "A meeting has been called for all the members of our Order. Including Ironwood."

Elrond turned to Ozpin with confusion, "You called the meeting?"

"No. Her grace did… unfortunately she will not be joining us, but she requests that you represent her in the meeting." Ozpin says with a sincere voice.

"Very well." Elrond said with contempt in his voice.

"Makes sense… As much as I hate to admit it, Atlas should have a say in this." Qrow said after taking a sip from his flask.

All three walked over to one of the large windows and looked on to Rivendell. The city and the academy looked peaceful, completely oblivious to what is coming for them. "I was really hoping this day wouldn't come… and now this generation is going to be facing the Second Great War." Elrond said with a sadden tone.

"They'll find a way to make it through. Our parents didn't think they could make it last time." Qrow said.

Elrond rolled his eyes, "But they had something to put their faith into… What do we have?"

"We have our Star Knights…" Ozpin says with full confidence.

Elrond looked to Ozpin with an agitated look, "Star Knights? They're weak! It is because of them that the Ring survived at all! And this generation is no different!" He then gave them a rather saddened look, "There is no strength left in their bloodlines except continuing their line and staying a live, but only for themselves."

"There is one who could unite them, and the kingdoms of Remnant." Ozpin said as he walked over to Elrond and placed a hand on his shoulder, "A new Zenith has been revealed, Elrond… He can bring them together."

Elrond turns to Ozpin and asks him something that he was afraid to even say, "What if a Zenith isn't enough, this time…?"

Neither Ozpin nor Qrow could answer that question, because they themselves weren't sure either.

* * *

Three days after Ruby woke up from her wound. She got to meet up with the others and saw that they were ok. Just as Elrond said, her wound healed, but her wound left an odd-colored scar on her skin.

She took a stroll in the garden near the main river of the town, where she met up with Arwen. The Maiden was glad to see that Ruby was doing better, and she felt that there was question that Ruby really wanted the answer to.

"HOW DID YOU MAKE THE RIVER DO THAT?!" Ruby practically shouted.

Arwen backed up a bit from the shouting and gave a nervous smile. "Ok… Just don't yell at me, please…"

"Sorry." She smiled nervously and backed up a bit, "So how did you do it?"

Arwen then held out her hand as she whispered a few of those words from before. And then a small water spout shot up from the river and into her hand. Ruby laughed at it with as much excitement as a child that was given cotton candy. "That's incredible!"

"It only works on enchanted water." Arwen stated as she let the water drop down into the river below.

"Like the water at Beacon? We used it on Smaug a few years back." Ruby said with a brief smile.

"Yes… The enchantment in the water doesn't limit to simply melting Grimm, if you say the words correctly and focus enough, anyone can control the water without a semblance." Arwen says as she uses some of her maiden powers to form a water snake around her arms, "Although I don't entirely need it, given my Maiden powers give me power over water."

"Is that all your power?" Ruby asked with curiosity.

"I have power over light as well. As the Summer Maiden, I control what keeps our world alive, sunlight and water. It isn't just for plants, but for animals and people too." Arwen said as she let the water snake slither down her arm and back into the water to join with the current and disappear.

 **(AN: Yes, guys… I made Arwen a Waterbender.** **;]** **)**

"So is enchanted water only in Sanus?" Ruby asked.

"It isn't limited to this continent… There are reservoirs of enchanted water that exist in all the capitals." Arwen said as she led Ruby through the garden.

Ruby seamed very intrigued, "It's incredible that such magic exists… but then again, I used to think Maidens were just a bedtime story two years ago."

Arwen smiled a bit and nodded in understanding, "It took a while for me to get used to it too. One day I'm just another student in my father's academy, next thing I know I have powers that could rival a Star Knight."

Ruby then looked to her with curiosity, "So who taught you how to speak enchantments?"

"Her Grace of course." Arwen instantly stopped and put her hand over her mouth, she then quietly cursed herself.

"Who's 'Her Grace'?" Ruby asked with complete confusion.

"I'm not allowed to say…" Arwen then tried to walk away. Ruby quickly zoomed up behind her and walked along with her.

"Why not? Come on, you can trust me!" Ruby said with her eyes sparkling in a puppy dong fashion.

Arwen stopped walking and looked Ruby in the eye, "I'm sorry, Ruby… I really am. But it is forbidden to speak her name unless the person has seen her in person, and you haven't."

"Then I'll meet her… Right?" Ruby was a bit nervous for asking.

Arwen gave a nervous smile as she rested her hand on Ruby's shoulder, "I have no doubt that you will meet her some day… but for now the only thing I can tell you is that she is the head of my father and Ozpin's order."

Ruby's eyes sparkled, _"Someone is higher than Ozpin?"_ Then she shook herself back to reality, "Order? What order?"

Arwen squinted her eyebrows, "You were never told?" Ruby shook her head, Arwen then backed away and then gave Ruby a slight bow, "Well, then let it be my honor in welcoming you into the Order of Light. Where Knights, Maidens and Hunters stand together against our common enemy, the Darkness."

Ruby couldn't help but smile as she bowed back to Arwen as a gesture of 'thank you'. They then continued down the walkway and talked about other topics, Arwen asked her not to speak of what they had just discussed with anyone else until after the meeting tomorrow.

* * *

As the day went on, a few transports landed in the airfields; a Mistral drop ships landed near noon, while Atlas ships landed just after 6 pm.

Jaune waited at the airfield as the Mistral ships landed and unloaded their passengers: a Mistral soldier, and three familiar faces.

Jaune almost resorted to using his aura to not get knocked down by Nora's bear-hug tackle. He quickly returned her hug in kind and was happy to see Ren and Pyrrha walk up to them.

"The flight wasn't too bad, I hope?" Jaune asked as he and Ren hit their forearms together.

"It wasn't too bad. Nora slept most of the way, so I hope they prepared for her…" Ren said as he looked at Nora. She quickly grabbed his arm and stared dragging him away.

"Come on, Ren. I want to go to the beach side of the river." Nora said as she managed to get Ren to follow, "And besides, these two need their privacy." She finished with a wink.

Jaune looked to Pyrrha as they both smiled. Pyrrha looked all over his body, "Glad to see you didn't collect any new scars since our separation."

Jaune smirked and chuckled, "Glad to see you were able to get them to come."

Pyrrha smiled as she hugged on Jaune, "Are you kidding? Once I landed in Mistral they raced over there from their village to meet with me."

Pyrrha then let go and turned to the soldier that was walking up to the couple. "Jaune Arc, allow me to introduce you to Robin Loxley."

Jaune looked to the green hooded, armored soldier and holds out his hand, "Pleaser to meet you."

Robin lifted his hood of his head and shook Jaune's hand, "Supreme Commander Arc, it's an honor."

Pyrrha smiled, "Robin and I are old childhood friends. He is a Sargent Major in Mistral's Rohirrim, he's going to represent Mistral's military in the meeting."

Jaune smiled as he let go, "Well, it's good to see that there are more than just Star Knights joining this meeting. But where is Èomer?"

"Unfortunately the Commander had some matters to attend to," Robin says with a bit of irritation in his voice, "White Fang guerillas have been hitting villages left and right, so that requires his full attention."

Jaune nodded, "I see. Well, glad to have you."

Robin then looked to them both, "I would also like to say in person how thankful I am that you brought Pyrrha home." He held out his hand again for a second handshake, but when Jaune took his hand he was pulled in and Robin whispered, "But if you break her heart, I _will_ put arrows through your eyes."

Jaune pulled away and saw Robin's face go back to normal, "Now if you'll excuse me, I need something to eat."

As Robin walked away, Jaune looked to Pyrrha with confusion, "Is he always-?"

"Always." Pyrrha said with a nervous smile.

"Did he mean it?" Jaune asked as Pyrrha started to walk away, "Pyrrha. Did he mean it? Pyrrha!" She continued walking away, not wanting to answer his question.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha got to have some time along, having a picnic in the flower gardens, swinging in the river with the others. Jaune was then alerted that the Atlas shuttle was arriving soon, and he wanted to greet the new arrivals in person.

The Atlas ship landed and let out General Ironwood, Major Polendina and Supreme Commander Numenor.

By the time Jaune and Pyrrha reached the shuttle, Boromir had already left the airfield, leaving Penny and Ironwood on the ship as they were unloading their stuff.

"General, Penny." Jaune said with a warm smile to Penny.

"Good to see you guys!" Penny said with a smile, "Where's Ruby? Did she wake up?"

"She's fine. You can find her near the river with the other members of her team." Pyrrha says with a smile, she then guided Pyrrha to the river, leaving Jaune and Ironwood alone.

Ironwood was a bit confused that Jaune was still standing there, he could see a bit of curiosity in his eyes. "Can I help you, Commander?"

"I know it's weird for me to ask this, but I feel that I should so that there won't be anything between us…" Jaune said with a bit of hesitation in his tone.

"Ask away." James said with a confident look.

"What can you tell me about 'Project Marauder'?" Jaune asked bluntly. He looked into the general's eyes and saw the shock.

"How do you know of that?" Ironwood asks with a bit of shock in his voice.

"A source I didn't want to follow, but the truth behind it may just be important for us…" Jaune said with a full military tone, "The black armored mercenary Pyrrha described back at Beacon… He used to be apart of it, wasn't he?"

Ironwood looked away, "His name was Samuel Ortez… But from what I hear he calls himself 'Locus' now…"

Jaune had to press the subject, find out all that he could, "What is he? Because from what Pyrrha said about him, he isn't human… not anymore."

Ironwood took a deep breath; this wasn't easy for him, he thought they were done with him after the Battle for Beacon, "At the time, Professor Gepetto Polendina was working in more of the cybernetic implants than AI like Penny."

"So he's a cyborg? Like you?" Jaune asked.

"Not exactly… my limbs are due to injuries… his are… well."

"You removed his limbs?" Jaune asked with disgust. "For what purpose?!"

Ironwood gripped his fist tight, "We needed more than Knights, ARC!" Jaune could see the deep regret in his eyes as he spoke, "At the time, Atlas was trying to find a way to strengthen it's own military higher than any kingdom had before. Sam was meant to be apart of a special ops team that break into any fortress, defeat any opponent… even a Star Knight."

"Did Boromir know about this project?" Jaune asked with anger

"No, of course not. But in the end it didn't matter, all the subjects ended up suffering from madness due to implant rejection. Sam was the only one to survive with his sanity intact…" Ironwood then looked away, remembering those terrible days as if it happened yesterday. "But then came the day when the Fall Maiden, Amber, was attacked and almost killed, Chancellor Numenor terminated the project."

Jaune then relaxed as he put the pieces together, "And when that happened, Locus ran…"

"He blamed us, Atlas, for taking away his humanity for nothing… And we have regretted it ever since…" Ironwood looked to Jaune, "And if what Ms. Nikos said is true, he's sided with Salem."

"Why would he side with her?" Jaune asked under his breath.

"Aside form obvious vengeance… She may give him his body back…" Ironwood said with a bit of curiosity, he then looked at Jaune and saw the confusion on his face. "What would you do if your humanity was taken, and someone offered to give it back in exchange for something?"

Jaune didn't say anything, he just walked away and left Ironwood alone with his own question.

* * *

Not too long after the Atlas shuttle landed, a shuttle form Menagerie landed at the airfield. Yang's fiancé Grun had arrived, he was asked by Blake's father, Chieftain Gira to help his daughter represent Menagerie in the meeting.

When he arrived his fiancé and friends greeted him. With the flight being so long and it was so late, he didn't have the time to talk with all of them. Weiss volunteered to take him to his room, Yang would have, but she had some chores to do that couldn't wait over night.

As they were walking to the apartment buildings, Grun couldn't help but see that Weiss was a bit uneasy. "Something on your mind, Ice Queen?"

Weiss rolled her eyes, she was too tired to argue about her name, but she needed to ask him something important: "How many times were you in a 'close call'? And how bad were they?"

Grun thought hard, "Depends on what you mean. Close call as in losing my life, or close call losing a friend?"

"Both… Those Nazgúl were… toying with us!" Grun could tell Weiss was really frustrated, "And they almost got Ruby with that damn cursed blade…"

"Almost, being the key word. Any fight you can get away from is a win." He said with a voice of experience.

Weiss still couldn't shake off her frustration, "But we almost didn't… Jaune can't be there for us every time." Weiss then froze for a moment; Grun stopped to and saw the startling realization on Weiss' face. "Wow, four years ago, I would have never imagined I'd say those words."

Grun chuckled, "Four years ago, I never would have thought I'd call a Schnee a friend. Life always has ways of surprising you."

Weiss sympathized, "And now the world is on the brink of another Great War… One where we will have to fight." She then turned her eye to the sunset, "Did you ever think you'd see a day like this coming, let alone be apart of a meeting that would decide the fate of Remnant?"

Grun snorted loudly, as apposed to laughing out loud, "Hell no. The most I ever saw for myself was settling down with a wife and a litter of kids." He said as he flipped his left wolf ear playfully.

Weiss raised her eyebrow to him, "Grun!"

Grun winked as he retorted, "It's ok if _I_ say it." Grun then crossed his arms as he looked out to the sunset too, "What about you? Ever think you'd be able to confide in Faunus so easily?"

She smirked a bit, "It's not like I never considered it… but given the behavior of Faunus I was most accustomed to, back then, I'd say now… But I'm glad I do now. And I'm not just talking about Blake." She said as she patted Grun on the shoulder.

Grun's ears raised up a bit as he smiled and patted Weiss on the head, "Aw, love you too Weiss."

Weiss slumped her head below her shoulders as she was being patted, "Watch the crown, it's delicate." She was referring to the 'crown' that was holding her hair in the side ponytail.

Grun smiled at her before switching back to a serious face, "How is Ruby doing? I didn't get a real chance to speak with her."

Weiss' face turned to a sad one, "She's better. She was out for three days before she woke up. Headmaster Elrond says she'll make a full recovery, but will have a scar to show for it."

"What about…?" Grun asks as he taps the side of his head.

Weiss shrugged her shoulder, "She's been mostly quiet about it, she doesn't' bring it up unless we do. And even then she doesn't like to talk about it. What do you think we should do?"

Grun rests his hand on her shoulder, "Treat her as you always have. She needs stability and reliability right now. Be there for her, but don't be over bearing. She'll talk to you about it when she's ready. Don't force it."

Weiss smiled in agreement, but then cocked her head when she thought about her sister, "Might want to tell that to Yang before it's too late." Weiss then gives Grun his room key, which happened to be Yang's room as well. "I'll let you rest, we have a big day tomorrow."

Grun took the key and then pointed at her face, "Get some sleep yourself, Weiss. Your makeup still isn't enough to hide _those_ rings around your eyes."

She rolled her eyes and hit his shoulder, "Good night, Grun."

Grun waves off as she walks away, "Night, Puddle Princess." Although 'Ice Queen' was the most popular, he wanted to try a new one for the fun of it.

* * *

As nightfall came quick for Rivendell, Boromir Numenor did some exploring and eventually found himself in the "Hall of Excalibur". Along the walls there were several murals, illustrating some of the most notable battles of the Great War: King Leonidas' defense of Vacuo, Joan Arc uniting the kingdoms, Themistocles breaking the Mordor blockade, and Isildur and the other Star Knights standing against Salem.

 **(AN: All images were in World of Remnant style artwork)**

As Boromir walked down the hall he found a man standing in front of the mural that showed Isildur cutting Salem's arm off as Excalibur shattered. Jaune turned his head slightly so that he could see it was Boromir.

"Forgive me, if I'm intruding?" Boromir said as he took a step back.

"It's fine. Just came here to admire the artwork." Jaune said with a quiet voice.

The room was mostly dark, the only light sources were a few candles and the moonlight above, so Boromir didn't couldn't see too much of Jaune's face. When this hallway was made, the architects wanted it to be 'naturally lit' not though mechanical means.

Boromir walked up beside Jaune, "I don't recognize you… Are you from Vacuo?"

"Vale." Jaune said.

"Ah. Sky knight or regular military?" Boromir asked.

"Knight." Jaune said.

"Ah…" Boromir turned around to the fragments of Excalibur and picked up the handle. "The blade that was built out of four kingdoms… A pity it broke at the peak of its greatness."

Boromir ran his finger up the blade and found it cut the top layer of his finger, "Still sharp…" He then looked at the broken bit, "Hmm… Now it's just a broken heirloom of a bygone age."

Boromir placed the handle on the platform and walked away, only for it to fall off and hit the ground. Jaune turned to see him continue to walk away; it almost agitated Jaune that he would disrespect such a relic of _their_ families.

Jaune walked over and picked it up; he then placed it back on the platform and lowered his head in respect. He then heard footsteps approach from behind, he could hear the tap of the heel and know immediate who it was.

Pyrrha couldn't help but feel that Jaune was letting his guilt get the better of him again, she rested her hand on his shoulder, "You ok?"

"Funny… Isildur Numenor, one of the most famous and bravest Star Knights in history, was corrupted by a small trinket that lead to his death…" Jaune put his hand over Pyrrha as he turned towards her, "Probably would have been my fate, if you weren't there…"

Pyrrha smiled a bit, "Flatterer."

Jaune smiled back, "Don't pretend you don't love it." He said as he turned towards her and wrapped his arm over her shoulder. He turned them both around to the mural of Isildur and Salem, "I wonder… You think someone will make a mural for the Battle of the Five Armies?"

"What, the statue wasn't enough?" Pyrrha said as she patted his chest.

"Well it would show the whole company, including you…" Jaune said as he looked at her in the eye, "To me, you were right by my side in that battle…"

Pyrrha couldn't help but blush and then give him a kiss so deep and passionate, the moment she let go he felt weak on his knees. "Whoa… Where did you learn to do that?"

Pyrrha removed Jaune's arm form her shoulder as she pulls his hand, "Yang may have given me a few pointers on… entertaining a lover…"

Jaune followed her and then gave a brief smile before he said, "Remind me to ask her not to teach any of the weird stuff."

* * *

That night RWBY and JNPR had a good nights rest; they would need it for the next morning for what it is to come.

Headmaster Elrond called the meeting at 10 am, so that when it was done they would have a meal afterwards. He was very specific when he chose who was going to be apart of the meeting.

Ozpin, Ruby and Jaune sat in the meeting to represent Vale. Qrow couldn't join in due to being called into a special CCT communication that was specifically for him to answer. And Yang wasn't allowed to attend the meeting due to the fact that she 'wasn't invited'.

Arwen and Thomas Smith were asked to represent Vacuo, with her father as the host, she volunteered to speak on his behalf.

Pyrrha and Robin sat to represent Mistral; at first Boromir didn't want her to represent, saying that a 'celebrity' had no position to sit at such a meeting, but Elrond overruled her on the count of both the King of Mistral and their Star Knight's insistence to allow her.

Ironwood, Boromir and Weiss represented Atlas. While Boromir and Ironwood stood for the military section of Atlas, Weiss was asked to represent the SDC. Her father asked for her to be there and get a 'proper accounting for what the war might cost for the company'. While she hated the fact that her father only worried about the company, she liked the chance to be there for Ruby in this time of crisis.

And last, and most certainly not least, Blake and Grun sat to represent Menagerie. Blake's father could not attend so he vouched for her to take his place, as the public representative. Grun was to represent the military position of Menagerie, despite the fact that most of the island's army being disbanded and replaced with 'Sky Knight peace keepers' from Atlas. After the attempted coup by the White Fang two years ago, the other kingdoms aren't taking any chances any more.

As much as he would want to represent Vacuo; but as the host, Elrond must exclude himself from any voting. His position is solely about informing the meeting and giving the members options to choose from.

Headmaster Elrond stat at the table that overlooked the group of representatives, he then stood up and opened his arms to them, "Representatives of all the kingdoms and the leaderships they hold, you have all gathered to this meeting to answer the threat of Mordor."

Everyone couldn't help but look to each other as he spoke, the tension rose with every word Elrond spoke. "Remnant as we know it stands on the brink of destruction… we must unite as we did before or all our kingdoms will fall… This fate isn't declared to just one species, but to both Human and Faunus…"

Elrond then turned to Ruby and gestured to her, "Bring forth the Ring, Miss Rose."

Ruby looked very nervous as everyone looked to her. It took nudge by Weiss for her to muster the courage to get up and walk over to a table at the center of the room. There she removed the Ring from her pocket and placed it on the table.

Most of the people inhaled quickly at the sight of one of the darkest objects in Remnant's history. And here it was, sitting in the middle of a table.

Boromir sat forward, smiling, "This… this is a _gift_!" Everyone looked to Boromir with confusion, "It is a gift to the gods!" Boromir then stood up, "They have given us a chance to use Salem's own weapon against her! And when we do, we may very well destroy the Grimm forever!"

"You _CAN'T_!" Jaune spoke up with anger, "The ring is guarded by dark magic that not even the strongest of us her can withstand… It answers to only ONE person, Salem herself." Jaune looked at the ring with pure hatred.

Both Ruby and Pyrrha looked at the ring with anger, they knew that the anger originated from when he fell under the influence of the Arkenstone. And given the fact that this Ring was made by the same person, they could understand his hatred for it.

Boromir looked at Jaune as if he was some lower ranking soldier, "And what would a little Sky Knight like you know about something like this, eh?"

Pyrrha gripped her seat tightly, she had enough of people talking down to Jaune as if they were better than him, so she looked at Boromir with anger as she stood up and spoke out against him, "He's not a Sky Knight! He is Jaune Arc, Star Knight of Vale, and the hero of the Battle of Beacon…"

Boromir snapped his head to Pyrrha with shock the moment he heard Jaune's name. And when Pyrrha continued he started to give a more agitated look on his face, "You owe him your respect for what he has done for our people and your own." She looked to Weiss and Ironwood when she said that last part.

Boromir slowly turned back to Jaune, "Jaune Arc?" He gave probably one of the most disgusted faces Jaune had ever seen as he spoke, "You mean the same Arc that almost started the war between Atlas and Vale for a juvenile reason such as 'young tragedy'?" He then turned back to Pyrrha, "Are we speaking of the same person? Or is there one who _actually_ has a right to his title as a Knight?

Pyrrha gripped her hands tighter but was stopped when Grun grabbed her hand from his seat. He tried to pull her down but she wouldn't budge. "He has done more for his kingdom than you have done for yours!"

Boromir gave a bit of a distasteful glare at Pyrrha, "I don't expect a simple celebrity to understand politics; but provoking a war isn't considered a good thing."

Pyrrha was about to break Grun's grip but stopped when Jaune held out his hand to her and spoke, "Pyrrha, sit down, please…"

She relaxed and backed off. She then sat down and lowered her head in her own embarrassment. Grun whispered to her, "I'm glad you said all that, but it was poor timing." She nodded slowly in agreement.

Boromir walked back to his chair as he muttered out loud, "I owe no respect to any that deserve none…"

Ozpin spoke out to return the discussion back to the ring, "Jaune is right: we can't use the Ring. Its corruption cures is too powerful."

Elrond then stood from his chair, "You have only one choice: the Ring must be destroyed."

Robin stood up and spoke, "What are we waiting for?" He drew a dagger out of the back of his belt, walked up to the table and stabbed the ring with full force of his blade. The moment the blade made contact with the ring it shattered like glass.

In that instant, Ruby, Jaune Arwen and Boromir were all hit with sudden flashes of images, one looking like the 'Eye of Sauron'. It didn't hurt, but the images came so suddenly it spooked them. Whatever it was, it was connected to Knights, Maidens, even a Silver eyed warrior.

The resulting shockwave knocked Robin off his feet and onto his butt. "What the hell!? That blade was pure Rhodium!" Pyrrha and Blake went down to him to help him stand. He was weak on his feet but he was able to sit at his chair when they sat him down.

"The Ring cannot be destroyed, Mr. Loxley, by any weapon we have here…" Elrond said with a hundred percent confidence. "Prior to the Battle of the Last Alliance, Salem went to Mt Doom to remade the Ring into the horcrux we have before us… only there can it be altered, or be 'unmade'."

Everyone looked at the Ring with the realization that it could be destroyed; this gave them a sliver of hope, until Elrond continued. "It must be taken into Mordor and cast back into the fiery chasm that it came from. One of you… must do this."

Everyone remained silent for a full minute. They all looked at each other or looked at the floor with fear, the silence was broken when Boromir spoke what was on everyone's minds. "One does not simply walk into Mordor…"

Boromir sat up and continued, "From the legends alone, there are more than just Grimm behind the Black Gate. Minas Ithil had over a thousand men and fell against five in less than two hours… The land itself today is a modern apocalypse; a barren, toxic wasteland full of monsters that we don't even have names for… Even with a force of 10,000 soldiers, nobody would even reach the roots of the volcano alive. What you're asking isn't suicide, its completely _impossible!_ "

Blake stood up, "You heard, Elrond, the ring _must_ be destroyed!"

Robin stood up, "And I bet _you_ want to be the one to do it?"

Boromir then stood up next, "And what if we fail, huh? What happens when Salem gets back her Ring?"

"Or if we go with your plan of using it: how long until you decide to use it against the rest of the world too?" Robin asked with anger in his tone.

The group then erupted into a massive argument, everyone shouting at each other. Ruby sat there and watched as both Ozpin joined in. She even saw her friends fighting amongst the others, even each other.

It was then that Ruby saw something, almost like shadowy tentacles, wrapping around the heads of everyone in the argument. They were all coming from the Ring; the tentacles wrapped around most of the group's heads. She looked across the room to see that it was even around Jaune, although he wasn't in the argument, he was siting in his chair with his hand over his forehead, as if he was having a major headache.

Ruby wasn't that far off, a part of Jaune wanted to join in the yelling but he felt great pain from within as he was fighting the urge. He knew it was coming from the Ring, but he didn't have the strength to fight it and speak.

Ruby watched as the corruption curse was spreading to them all, forcing htem to argue with one another just by being in the presence of it. It was affecting the old, the young, the human and the Faunus alike. She then looked into the ring and saw a low green glow in the center of its jewel. She knew what had to be done.

"I WILL TAKE IT!"

Everyone continued their argument until they heard Ruby shout over them three times, and by the third time, Ozpin lowered his head in both anger and sadness as he turned to Ruby. He promised Qrow that he'd keep her out of it, and now here she is getting back into the mess.

"I will take the Ring to Mordor!" Ruby said with full confidence in herself, but then she felt her courage fade fast as everyone stared at her. Evidently her outburst managed to completely nullify the darkness from the ring entirely; everyone was free from it.

Jaune's headache broke as she spoke, as he looked at her stand before everyone, he couldn't help but feel a bit proud of her. But then he could see the fear in her eyes; he knew without a doubt that she was terrified.

Ruby's head started to lower as she spoke, "Although… I don't exactly know how to get there…"

Ozpin nodded at her and walked to her side, "I made a promise to both your uncle and your father that I would ensure your safety, and I'm not going to stop now." She couldn't help but smile at her headmaster as she nodded back.

Jaune smirked as he stepped forward for her to see him out of the crowd, "You stood by me two years ago when I needed you most, what kind of friend would I be if I didn't do the same?"

Pyrrha stood by Jaune, "I promised you that I would stay by your side, and I intend to keep that promise." She then turned to Ruby, "And what kind of friend would I be if I let you go on this trip without another sword by your side?"

Weiss and Blake stepped out of the crowd and stood next to Ruby, Weiss placed her hand over Ruby's shoulder, "You'd probably get lost the moment you leave the city. I'm going too." Ruby smiled back, she then looked to Blake and saw her wink at her.

Boromir slowly walked up to them, "You carry a great burden for us all, Miss Rose… If this is how it must be, then Atlas will stand with you as well."

Ruby nodded with a nervous smile. The next thing they knew a blonde woman dropped in from the roof that overlooked the meeting. She landed near the center of the room and walked up to Ruby and held her in her arms, "Ruby isn't going ANYWHERE with out me!"

"Yang… Yang! Too tight!" Ruby wheezed as she patted on Yang's arms to let go.

"Well I believe it's impossible to separate you two, especially when she was summoned to this council meeting, and you were not, Miss Xiao Long." Elrond said with a bit of a smile creeping up his lips.

Then a man wearing green and an orange haired woman dropped from the tree above and landed in front of Ruby. Nora ended up landing on top of Ren, she stood up quickly and stood him up and brushed off his chest. She then stood up straight and looked to Ruby, "Ren agreed and we're coming too!"

"Nora, next time you want to climb a tree, don't pull someone down with you when you fall…" Ren said as he rotated his shoulder a bit.

Nora smiled nervously, "Sorry…" She then turned to Elrond, "Besides, you want people who know what they're doing to go on an important mission like THIS!" She says as she moved to stand between Ruby and Weiss and hold their heads under her arms for a tight headlock.

Blake couldn't help but smile as she exclaimed, "Not like we would be at any short of 'excitement' on this trip."

Elrond smirked at them all and looked at the group as they stood together, "Ten companions… Hmmm. Very well, you shall be 'The Fellowship of the Ring'."

Nora's smile grew as she exclaimed, "YES! So… where are we going again?"

And at that point, Weiss face palmed so hard there was a red mark on her forehead.

* * *

After the meeting, Jaune received a call form his scroll, "Commander Arc, a group of hunters have just arrived outside the gates and are asking to come in. One of them said something about you owing him an extra crate of Dust?"

Jaune smirked, "Let them in, and tell them to meet me near the main fountain in the garden."

* * *

Within an hour after the meeting, Yang and Grun had a little discussion concerning the fact that he didn't volunteer to come along with them.

Yang sat on the bed in their room as he stood by the window, she could see the internal struggle from his stance. "Hey, so… why didn't you volunteer? I mean, I know you love Ruby enough to try… but why didn't you?"

"Prior to coming here, I was given orders not to take any action involving the Ring; because I had my own mission in Mistral. You'll probably see me when you guys pass by." Grun said with a bit of bitterness in his tone.

"Whose orders?" Yang asked.

"Her Grace…" Grun said with a bit of anger.

Yang lowered her head in understanding his anger. She stood up and walked up to him while resting her left hand on his shoulder, "Are you ok about following her orders, given that the last time you two spoke didn't end so well?"

Grun rolled his eyes and sucked in his pride a bit, "The fact that Jaune can trust her despite never meeting her… Just shows how much he trusts everyone else that does know her. I wouldn't trust her if she told me the moon was still shattered. But I trust Jaune. So I'll listen to her… for my brother's sake."

Given Jaune and Grun's brother like history, it was obvious that they trusted each other entirely, even their decisions. But for Jaune to put so much trust into someone that he never met makes Grun worry about him. Luckily for him, Yang can help make up for the difference in trust.

"I'll make sure he does the right thing… or I'll knock a few of his teeth out." She said with a chuckle. Grun smiled back at her and kissed her on the cheek right before taking her into his arms.

They both held each other close, Grun knew that she would be venturing into lands that she's been though before, but this is a time of war. Anything could happen. "When you go by Mistral, you better come visit me."

"I'll try my best." Yang said as she buried her nose into his neck, holding onto her fiancé tight and not wanting to let go.

* * *

Ruby and Qrow had their own discussion in her room.

"YOU VOLUNTEERED!?" Qrow shouted in a drunken rage, or was he sober, hard to tell.

Ruby lowered her head every time he shouted at her, even more so when he started flailing his flask around every time he paced back and forth in the room.

"Uncle, I won't be alone, I'll have Yang and Jaune and all the others!" Ruby said in her own defense. Part of her wished one of them was here right now, but she knew that she had to face him on her own eventually.

"They can't protect you from what's out there! Ruby there are worse things than Grimm or Orcs!" Qrow said with both anger and fear.

"And I'll face them the same way I did before… with my team fighting by my side!" Ruby said with a more confident face.

Qrow looked at her and couldn't help but smirk, then he began to laugh as if he heard the funniest joke. This started to make Ruby feel mocked, "I'm not joking, Uncle! We can do it!"

"I know you can." Qrow said as he took a sip from his flask and placed it back in his pocket. "I'm just laughing because you sounded just like your mom just now…" Ruby was taken by complete surprise by that. Never in any of her years has she ever heard him say she sounded like her mother when it came to dangerous situations.

He then pulled up a chair and sat down, his face then showed a more saddened and concerned look. "I don't want you to get hurt, kiddo… Neither does your dad. First he lost Raven, your mom… he can't lose you too. Neither can I."

Ruby walked up to him and hugged him from the left side, "I will be fine…" She then let go and sat on the bed next to him, "Besides! When all of this is over, I'll be able to match you when it comes to story time by the fire!"

Qrow chuckled a bit and nodded in agreement, "You just might, kiddo…"

* * *

Jaune made his way to the main garden, where he saw eight people standing by the central fountain. Four of them, he recognized as the freelancers he hired to take care of the threat at Fornost a week ago: Jacob Cobalt, Candice Noir, Kevin Lobo, and Oliver Leatherback. He also recognized three of them as Emerald Sustrai, Mercury Black and Neopolitan. The eighth member of the group, a Faunus girl with a fox's tail, was unknown to him. Deciding to make his presence known to them, Jaune walked over to them.

"You guys certainly don't disappoint," he said as everyone turned to look at him, "The other day I received reports that the large spikes of Grimm activity at Fornost practically flat lined overnight. You've certainly earned your fee." Jacob Cobalt, however, did not look happy.

"More than our fee," the platinum blonde said, "You owe us some answers, like who the hell did we fight at Fornost, because that guy drove us straight into the ground and back!"

"I was hoping you could tell us that as well," Jaune replied, "And I thought there were only four of you on your team."

"We found Vixen and the others at Fornost and decided to team up," Oliver explained as he gestured to the fox Faunus and Cinder's former minions. Jaune then approached Vixen and held out his hand.

"Certainly didn't expect them to bring in a fine fox like you here," he said as Vixen shook his hand. Candice had to fight the urge to groan.

"You have no idea how to talk to a woman, do you?" the bat Faunus deadpanned. Just then, another voice called out.

"No, but at least he tries," Pyrrha said as she, Ren and Ruby walked into the garden.

"You know you love it," Jaune said as he turned to his friends, "Anyway, these are the freelancers that I asked to take care of the Grimm threat at Fornost, though it looks like they had some trouble along the way. And back to the topic at hand, I was hoping you could tell us what you saw at that fortress."

"First off, the guy was huge," Jacob explained, "Oliver here barely came up to his shoulders. He also wore a big suit of pitch-black armor with a bright orange stripe running down the left arm. When he fought us, he used a huge serrated sword." This description made Jaune feel nervous.

"If the Maidens were brought back, then he would have been too," Jaune muttered before looking back to the freelancers and their allies, "The man you fought was Radcliffe Smith, the Black Knight of Vacuo and one of Salem's Nazgúl servants." Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"The 'Black Knight of Vacuo?' I thought that was just an old bedtime story," the Huntsman said. Jaune couldn't help but laugh.

"After what you guys just encountered at Fornost, do you really still believe it's 'just a story?'" Jaune asked.

"I know we're living in a world teeming with monsters, but I'm still having a hard time wrapping my head around the whole 'living dead' thing," Jacob said.

"Better get used to it," Jaune replied, "You'll have to if you want to survive this coming war." Vixen raised her eyebrow.

"A war?" the fox Faunus asked, "Didn't that end with Beacon?"

"Beacon was only a skirmish compared to what's coming next," Jaune replied, "Tell me, have any of you ever heard of 'Isildur's Bane?'" Emerald widened her eyes at his question.

"You mean that fabled ring that Cinder wouldn't shut up about?" the green-haired woman asked.

"It's more than a fable," Jaune said, "It's one of the names for the 'Ring of Darkness,' which is Salem's half of Sauron's Ring of Power. We have it here for now. That's why I hired you four to fight at Fornost, to ensure that the enemy wouldn't come after us as we travelled between kingdoms."

"In layman's terms, lock the back door," Kevin said.

"Pretty much," Jaune answered, "Now our next task is getting the Ring to Mordor in order to destroy it. It's a long story, so don't ask how."

"What exactly is so important about this ring?" Oliver asked, his crocodile tail swishing across the floor.

"Salem was able to raise the dead with the help of a second sorcerer," Jaune explained, "Imagine if she got that ring back. It would amplify her powers a hundredfold, with resurrection being the bare minimum of her powers."

"So it's her power source?" Jacob asked.

"No, Salem already has her own power," Jaune said, "As I said, the ring is like an amplifier, like what Cinder could do with her Dust and Maiden Power. If Salem gets it back, she'll have the power to finish what she began 85 years ago."

"And we're on a mission to cancel the apocalypse," Kevin stated.

"No, that's what my squad is doing," Jaune corrected him, "But if you want to keep working with us, I think Headmaster Elrond might have a mission for you." Jacob looked around at the garden surrounding them and made up his mind.

"Well, this place does make a better base than a shady inn," the platinum blonde said.

"Agreed," Jaune replied, "I'll make arrangements for Lieutenant Thomas Smith to work with you in this theater of war. I can vouch for his skills in combat. Now then, we have a few days before we set out, so why don't we take some time to relax and introduce our teams?"

"I don't see why not," Jacob agreed, "Besides, we were looking to have a vacation anyway."

* * *

The land of Mordor grew darker and darker every day since the rise of the newly named fortress of Minas Morgul. Rourke proved himself to be quite capable with his task of organizing the armies of Mordor into an affective force.

There were thousands of Grimm that were forming every day, and he recruited thousands of Orc legions that survived in the shadows of the dead land and turned them into a capable army that could follow orders.

Rourke was called by Salem to attend a meeting concerning the end result for sending the three maidens after the Ring.

Rourke entered Salem's meeting chamber and found the three maidens and Radcliffe kneeling to Salem. Rourke was about to kneel but was stopped when Salem held her hand out to him, " **No, my friend. You did nothing wrong. In fact, you are the ONLY one to fulfill the job that I had given you since we last spoke here.** "

Salem then gestured Rourke to sit at the table as she walked up to the kneeling Nazgul. She walked up to the maidens with a look of pure anger, " **I sent you three to retrieve my father's ring…** "

Zyra tried to speak up, " ** _My queen, you must understand-_** "

 **"** **-FROM A HUMAN!** " Salem interrupted. She then turned to Radcliffe with more of an annoyed look, " **I sent you to build an army at Fornost and begin the invasion of Vale, and you were beaten by FIVE HUNTERS AND THREE TRAITORS! You had an** ** _army_** **behind you!** "

Jadis mustered the courage she could to stand up and look Salem in the eye, " ** _Your Grace, there were unforeseen complications came up that we weren't prepared for._** "

" **Like what?** " Salem asked. She didn't want to hear excuses, but she felt that she should at least humor Jadis.

" ** _A Zenith was involved…_** " Jadis said with a face of pure contempt.

Salem's face relaxed a bit, she had hopped she'd never hear from one of those again. " **Are you sure?** "

" ** _He had wings that shined as bright as the sun…_** " Jackie said with a bit of a pout, " ** _He was the real deal…_** "

Salem turned away, " **Do you know which Star Knight it was?** "

Jadis turned her head in shame, " ** _No… His wings were shingling so bright that we couldn't see his face… we don't know who it is._** "

Salem then turned to Radcliffe and moved her hand for him to stand, " **What is your excuse?** "

Radcliffe stood up but kept his head down as he explained himself, " ** _I have none, my lady, but I have made a very strange discovery with the leader of the Hunters…_** "

Salem looked rather curios; she has never seen Radcliffe so confused before, " **Go on.** "

Radcliffe cleared his throat as he spoke, " ** _During the confrontation with their leader, I felt something strange within him. Something… golden._** "

Salem's eyes widened to the words, she turned around and cursed her self under her breath, _"How could I have missed this… I thought I would have felt it?"_ She turned her head and asked, " **How certain are you?** "

Radcliffe stood up straight and spoke with a clean voice, as clean as he could, " ** _It's nothing more than a theory, but if I fight him again, I can confirm it._** "

Rourke felt a bit cautious as he saw Salem grow uneasy. He could tell that she was already on edge because of the mention of a Zenith, but this started to make her seem worried about something. " ** _What is it, my queen?_** "

Salem turned and looked Rourke in the eye. She walked over to him and brushed her hand across his chin, " **Nothing you need to worry about my friend, or any of you…** " Salem said as she walked towards the mercury pool at the center of the room. " **Maidens, Knights, Silver warriors… there all more beings out there than those few 'legends'. Luckily, we have more than enough on our side to make the difference if Radcliffe's theory proves to be true.** "

Radcliffe cleared his throat, " ** _That power hasn't been seen since before my time, a good 500 years or so… It could be nothing, your grace._** "

Salem waved her hand over the pool, it began to make waves and form shapes, it looked like a 'holo-map' as it shifted into shapes of mountain regions, rivers, roads, buildings, etc. " **We shall see, my friend. Now, lets see how Saruman is doing with the army I have ordered.** "

Just as the pool of mercury formed Haven Academy, she then spoke into it in an echoed voice, " **Saruman… What is your progress?** "

The pool then shifted around and formed a human body in the shape of Saruman Lionheart. A second body formed behind him in the shape of Locus. While Saruman bowed his head to the Queen, Locus simply crossed his arms and leaned on his back leg.

"Your grace… I have poor news to report…" Saruman said with a sad tone.

" ** _Couldn't be any worse than ours._** " Jackie said as she put her hands behind her head.

"Ozpin escaped… He would be in Rivendell by now…" Saruman could see the anger in Salem's eyes; were it not for his robe, you'd see his knees shaking in fear. "However I do have good news I believe would prove more valuable than our loss…"

Salem's rage didn't diminish but she was willing to hear him out, " **Yes?** "

Saruman stood up with a bit of pride in his posture, "Allow me to introduce my first breed… of Uruk Hai." The mercury pool formed another body, this one being about seven feet tall, having the animal features of a wolf, but had some more human like bone structure, "This is Alpha… the first of his pack."

Salem's anger was snuffed out the moment she laid eyes on the beast in the pool. She was impressed in its size and characteristics. She then looked to Saruman with a smirk, " **Well done, Saruman… And the Relic?** "

"Already on it's way to you. My men are personally escorting it to Mordor." Locus said with a bit of pride.

"Have it sent to Hazel's current location. I'd rather not be distracted with the object." Salem said as she then turned her attention to Saruman, " **I commend you for your efforts in this new breed, however you must fix your mistake with Ozpin.** "

Salem briefly looked at the three maidens and then turned back to Saruman and Locus, " **Seeing as they cannot do a simple task, I will have you do it. While your primary focus is the fall of Mistral, I also want you two to make efforts to bring my ring back to me. Is that understood?** "

Saruman bowed his head and Locus nodded, "Yes, ma'am," they said in unison.

Salem then waved her hand over the pool and let the liquid drop back into the floor. She then turned to Rourke, " **Rourke, I want you to continue your efforts to form our armies here in Mordor and prepare the invasion of Mantel.** " Rourke nodded with a smirk on his face.

Salem then turned to Radcliffe, " **Radcliffe, return to your old fortress of Carn Dum. There I want you to begin the proper preparations for Vacuo's invasion.** " Radcliffe stood up straight and nodded, " **Oh, one more thing, tell Tyrion that he has a new target: this hunter you encountered.** " Radcliffe nodded in agreement.

Salem looked to the Maidens with a disappointing glare, " **Jadis and Jacqueline, you two will aid Rourke with his task, seeing as I cannot trust you to work on your own.** " Salem then looked at Zyra with a particularly angry glare, " **Zyra, you will remain in Mordor until I say otherwise.** "

Zyra's eyes widened as she spoke out, " ** _But, my lady, you need me-_** "

" **Your temper kept you form achieving your task! And until I say otherwise you are to stay in Mordor… Do you understand?** " Salem said with a hiss in her voice.

Zyra bit her lower lip and then bowed her head, " ** _Yes, your grace._** "

" **Good…** " Salem said as she waved them off to undergo their assigned duties. Almost everyone did, except Jadis. She remained in the room; Salem looked at her and saw a rather concerned look on her face. " **Is there something else, Jadis?** "

Jadis looked to Salem with a more worried look, " ** _Your grace… When I fought that Zenith, I was_** **afraid** ** _… I felt fear again… fear of dying. I ask you to use your foresight on me, am I to die at the hands of this Knight?_** "

Salem could see the turmoil within her, and felt that she deserved a bit of clarity with a future reading. _"Maybe it will give her a bit more confidence…"_ Salem hovered her hands on either side of her head, " **I see…** " a red aura began to form around her head, it stated to concentrate around her eyes as she predicted Jadis' future, " **You will lay siege to the lands of our enemies… Their people would bow at your feet for mercy… no Star Knight can match the power you now possess…** " her eyes then spring open as she smiled at Jadis, " **As a matter of fact, no human will ever have the strength to kill you…** "

Salem could see Jadis give off a sigh of relief, " **Is that enough for you?** "

" ** _Yes, your grace! You have my gratitude._** " Jadis said as she bowed to her with pride.

" **Good… Now get to work.** " Salem said as she put her hands together and tucked them under her sleeves.

" ** _Gladly._** " Jadis said as she exited the room and closed the door behind her.

Salem walked passed both the pool and the meeting table, reaching a smaller table. There sat a chessboard with a few pieces knocked over. Salem then sat down and pushed a bishop piece and lets go, " **And so the game continues, little sister…** "

* * *

 **AN: WOOOW!  
You guys have no idea how hard it was for me to finish this chapter…  
So yeah, I got a new job and had to deal with that drama and it kept me from working on this.  
I hope to get the next chapter out in the usual time frame, starting now.**

 **Credit to team JCKL goes to** **Breakawayfan**

 **Credit to Grun goes to** **Nightengale4698**

 **Credit to Robin Loxley goes to** **Flash600** **(his profile on Deviant Art)**


	9. The Fellowship Sets Out

**The Fellowship Sets Out**

* * *

 **AN: So in this chapter our Fellowship begins their journey.**

 **Again, sorry it took me so long for this one, I have a lot on my plate these days.  
At this point, I will try to get my chapters in as soon as I can.  
Sorry guys.**

 **Anyway, hope you guys enjoy the new chapter!**

* * *

Ruby was waiting in her room with Yang as they were preparing to set out. Weiss and Blake were walked into their room, as they were packing, Blake was carrying a box. "Ruby, you got mail from Patch."

Ruby quickly walked over to Blake and took the box out of her hand, "Thanks!" She then set the box down on the bed and ripped the tape off the top.

"What did you get?" Yang asked as she walked over and read the return address on the side, "From home?"

"I asked dad to send me my old shirt." Ruby said as she pulled out her Mithril shirt our of the Styrofoam beans.

Weiss held one of the sleeves and brushed it across her fingers, "Why didn't you bring this when you guys first left? It would have saved you at Weathertop."

Ruby slumped her head and groaned, "Well… when Uncle Qrow was telling us to leave I didn't know what we were dealing with… now that we do, I called dad the other day to send me this."

Yang moved her hand into the foam and found another object inside, she pulled out Thorn and it's holster, "You forgot Thorn too?"

"We were in a hurry!" Ruby said as she was unbuckling her hood.

Ruby removed her hood and main shirt and put the Mithril shirt on. She groaned as the chain male shirt squeezed her chest hard, almost flattening her. She then quickly took it off, "Ok… I think it needs to be resized."

"You think?" Blake said with a bit of a chuckle.

They then heard a knock at the door and saw Arwen enter. She slightly laughed as she saw Ruby struggle with the shirt, "Need any help?"

Ruby pulled the shirt off and smiled at Arwen, "I don't see how you can… chainmail isn't exactly 'machine washable'."

"No, but I have some spare Mithril that we can use to size it more for you." Arwen said as she gestured for them to follow.

* * *

Arwen lead the girls to a blacksmith to make more rings and resize the shirt to better-fit Ruby.

Ruby smiled as she saw it coming along, "Thanks again, Arwen!"

"How much is this going to cost?" Yang asked.

"YANG!" Blake said as she punched her shoulder.

"What? Mithril isn't cheap! Especially in chainmail." Yang said, which did bring up a good point. Mithril was almost as rare metal as Rhodium, equally durable, but ten times lighter. To even have enough to cover a sleeve would be worth the cost that was spent to repair both Beacon and Vale after the battle.

Arwen chuckled and agreed with Yang, "Indeed it is a great gift, one in which is small in comparison to saving my life and for volunteering for going on this mission. You will need every advantage you can get for a mission like this."

Ruby replied with a fast tight hug, "Thank you so much!"

* * *

The group decided to stay for a couple more days to prepare for their departure. They took all their blades to be sharpened by the same blacksmith that refitted Ruby's shirt. They also had their long-range weapon barrels swabbed.

As everyone else was enjoying their temporary down time by the beach or enjoying the Rivendell food, Ozpin asked some of the team leaders into a meeting.

Jaune, Ruby, Grun, and Jacob attended the meeting; Boromir requested that he join as well, given that he was a Star Knight, how could Ozpin refuse. They began to go over how the Fellowship would go to Mordor.

Jaune looked over the world map and sees that there were new territories of Grimm that were formed in the last 36 hours. "It would seem Radcliffe hasn't wasted any time shifting the Grimm territories into a theater of war."

"Given how versed he is in the land, I'm not at all surprised." Ozpin said, "But that also means we will have to find another rout to Mordor from here."

Jacob looked at the lay of the land and then pointed at Vale, "Couldn't you guys take a flight from Beacon and go straight for the Black Gate?"

"They would be waiting for that." Boromir said with a bit of annoyance in his tone. "Latest reports say that a fleet of Orc ships have blockaded most of the costal shores of Mordor. And there are Giant Nevermores waiting for you to try and fly there."

Jacob rolled his eyes, "Ok fine, then what other options do we have?"

"You could go a more scenic route. It may take longer, but it is the safest way." Grun said. First he pointed at Rivendell and dragged his finger west through the southern parts of Vale and then at Menagerie, "If you cut across to Menagerie, you'd be able to reach the southern parts of Mistral and move north from there. Then you could move northeast and reach the opposite side of the Dragon-shaped Island."

Everyone followed along with him, Ozpin, Jaune and Jacob saw the logic in Grun's plan, but Boromir seamed less than accepting.

"To go a route that long would take months, a year even! We don't have that kind of time!" Boromir said. "Star Knights cannot stay out of the frontlines of a war of this scale for too long. Arc, you understand, don't you?"

Jaune nodded, "I do. But if we can't get the Ring to Mt Doom and destroy it, then all of this would be for nothing. We can't fight on the front lines yet, we need to escort the Ring."

"Damn it, Arc!" Boromir protested.

"It is for the Ring bearer to decide." Ozpin interrupted.

Everyone then turned to Ruby who was standing behind them all. She didn't know anything about military tactics, or about fighting on the front lines, aside from Beacon. She walked up and saw Grun's plan, it looked like a long journey, but if it meant that they wouldn't get spotted and/or caught in the middle of a full-scale battle, it would be the best option. "We will go with Grun's plan. Even if it takes us a year, we will get the ring into that mountain of fire…"

Boromir groaned his protest and then spoke, "So be it… I'll inform my brother of our new plan."

Once he left, Jacob bumped Grun's shoulder, "Atlesians, am I right?"

Grun smirked, "No kidding."

Jacob then zoomed the holo-map in on Vacuo and highlighted Radcliffe's stronghold of Carn Dum, "Meanwhile, my team and I will stay here and see if we can keep this Radcliffe guy busy."

"As for my team and I, we shall be returning to Mistral. We were asked to return by… Her Grace." The last word he nearly spat out, "She asked us to assist their Star Knight in their rising threat of Grimm."

Jaune looked at Grun with a bit of confusion, he's never met someone who has as much anger towards 'Her Grace' before. Although Jaune never met her yet, he can't help but wonder what has him dislike her so.

* * *

The rest of that day went on like any other 'vacation' day in Rivendell. Ruby and Vixen had a little fun with most of the teams by starting a pranking spree, which ended with Vixen in the hospital. Her injuries were due to being punched hard by a mechanical arm after removing a lock of blonde hair.

Meanwhile, Jaune was in his room packing a backpack full of proper travel cloths and a medical kit. He heard someone knock at the door and told him or her it was open. He was surprised to find Headmaster Elrond enter. "Can I help you, Headmaster?"

"I came to inform you that I was given a commission… to reforge Excalibur." Elrond said as he walked up to Jaune. "The skill of Vacuo has the capabilities to reforge the sword, like we did in the last war… but only a Zenith can hold such power."

Jaune turned away from Elrond, "That sword is meant for those who are worthy… and I am not."

Elrond moved around Jaune to be in his sight again, "Do not let your past mistakes get in the way of your destiny! You _are_ meant to hold the sword, no matter how you feel about yourself."

Jaune looked Elrond in the eye as he closed his bag and dropped it on the bed. "I am not going to weald that sword, because I am not worthy… and never will be…" Jaune then exited the room and found Pyrrha standing right at the entrance.

They said nothing to each other as Jaune continued to walk away. He went into the waterfall gardens; they often helped him to relax whenever he was stressed.

Pyrrha turned back to the room and saw Elrond approach. "We may have forgiven him for what he did when he was under the influence of the Arkenstone... but he still hasn't yet."

Elrond nodded in understanding, "Then I will leave it to you to see that he find the will to do so. Because if he doesn't... this war will be lost."

Pyrrha nods and walks away to find Jaune. Once she found him she saw that he was sitting at a bench with his eyes closed; he was listening to the running water. She sat beside him and laid her hand on his. His hand turned and folded his fingers around hers.

They said nothing to each other; they just sat there to enjoy the time they had left with each other before the beginning of the mission.

* * *

The last night came and Jaune called for all of RWBY and JNPR to meet at the beach for a small bonfire. There they ate smores and enjoyed each other's company before the time came to leave.

Jaune then held up his glass of Vale beer, "To the fellowship… and to Remnant."

"Here, here!" Everyone else said as they tapped their cups and glasses together.

Up in Elrond's office, he and Ozpin watched the eight hunters. "To think that only four years ago, they were just first years at Beacon." Ozpin said with a bit of pride and sadness in his tone.

"You did your job… Albeit, you did what you could." Elrond said as he pored Ozpin a glass of Vacuo whine.

Ozpin took the glass and held it up along side Elrond's, "To the Order of Light."

"To Remnant." Elrond said as they tapped their glasses together.

* * *

As daybreak came, the time to set out came with it. The Fellowship gathered at the front gate where two vehicles were waiting for them. They were similar to Jaune's Pitbull, but slightly bigger and could hold more people. Yang was saddened that she couldn't bring Bumblebee with them, but they couldn't risk getting spotted again.

However Yang was given a four-wheeler to ride, she and Jaune were both given one to be the escorts. While Ozpin and Boromir became the drivers of the Pitbulls, Ruby, Weiss and Blake were going to ride in Ozpin's truck, while Ren, Nora and Pyrrha were going to ride in Boromir's.

Just before they were about to prepare to leave, General Ironwood approached Jaune. He handed him a data file; when Jaune opened it, he saw it was labeled "Project Marauder". "What's this for?" Jaune asked.

"It's likely you'll see Locus again… In the event that you do, you'll need to know what you're up against." Ironwood says with a bit of hope in his tone. He then held out his hand to Jaune.

Jaune took it and shook firmly, "Thank you."

"Good luck, Commander." Ironwood said with pride.

Jaune gripped tighter, "You too, General."

About an hour loading food and ammo, all ten members of the Fellowship stood in a row to say their goodbyes to the council members in Rivendell. Headmaster Elrond himself spoke for the record, "The Ring-bearer is setting out on the Quest to Mount Doom. On you whom travel with her, neither oath nor bond has been laid to go further than you will."

While it was a slight inspiring speech, Ruby couldn't help but feel nervous. She had to hold her sisters hand to keep from shaking with her fear.

"Farewell, may the Light of the world guide your path." Elrond says with a hopeful tone.

Everyone either bowed their heads or saluted to their respected soldiers goodbye as the Fellowship did the same. They then climbed into the trucks, while Yang and Jaune got on their bikes.

They started their engines one at a time. Ruby sat in the back of her car with Weiss, she turned to her and whispered, "Are you ready?"

Ruby whispered back, "No… but lets get it done." Weiss nodded in understanding.

The trucks and bikes started up and ride down the path, leaving Rivendell. Yang rode up beside Jaune and spoke through the radio, "Just like last time, eh?"

"Yeah. Only this time the fate of the whole planet is at stake. No pressure." Jaune said with a chuckle.

Yang laughed back as she revved her engine louder and rode on ahead of him. The Fellowship is now underway.

* * *

Riding through the region between Vale and Vacuo was no different to RWBY and JNPR than when they made their ground trip to Beacon, although it was new for Pyrrha and Boromir.

As they were riding, they had to cut across a few trails while trying to stay off the main road to the coast. It was most likely that Salem has her Grimm spies watch the roads for 'mysterious activity'.

The group would spend nights setting up camp; eating food that either was hunted by Blake and Jaune or by eating the rations they brought. Surprisingly enough, Boromir proved to be a good cook and found a way to turn simple field rations into food that actually tasted good.

Ozpin would routinely go over the plan with Jaune and Boromir on what roads and or trails they would take on their way to the coast. Although they were traveling by car, Sanus was still a big continent. "We must hold our current course for at least five more days. If our luck holds, we may slip through the two Grimm territories between us and the coast without being spotted."

"Last time I read a survey on those territories it said that they weren't too thick." Jaune said as he laid his hand on the map.

"How so?" Boromir asked.

Jaune shrugged his shoulder, "Well, the biggest Grimm seen there would probably be a Deathstalker. If not a few packs of Beowulves."

"We can handle it, if we are spotted." Yang said as she cracked her knuckles.

"Lets hope we don't have to find out." Weiss said as placed more wood on the campfire.

* * *

They drove for another day and made camp on a rock face to refuel the vehicles. Jaune and Yang were in charge of the refueling while everyone else was enjoying their time to stretch their legs.

Boromir offered Weiss and Blake a sword lesson. At first they refused, but when Boromir brought up the point that if they were to encounter a Nazgul again, they would need to know how to property defend against magical abilities.

Boromir proved to be a capable sword fighter against both Blake and Weiss with swordplay. He would block some of Blake's heavy attacks while dodging a dust attack from Weiss. He even successfully blocked a blow from Weiss' Knight-Construct and brought it down with one swing of his blade. "When you're making this construct you're rely too much on how big it is in the fight; next time you make it, make it more durable and less weak towards blade attacks."

"How do you know to do that?" Blake asked out of curiosity.

"I've trained with Winter for years, and there were times that she's been able to make constructs that could withstand even the strongest swing from a Star Knight." Boromir said as he looked to Weiss, "You have the potential to do the same, you just need to find the strength to make it that way."

They continued their sword practice while Ruby, Ozpin, Ren and Nora were looking over the map that they had laid out for the trip so far. While Ruby seemed content on their current course, Nora voiced her own protest.

"Well if you guys ask me, I'd say we are going the long way to the coast." Nora said as she jumped down from the higher rock she was standing on and then walked over to the map and pointed at the mountain range between them and the coastline. "My grandmother has a tribe of Valkyries in the mines of Moria. She retook it last year, and last time I called, she was hoping I could swing by."

"How long ago was this?" Ruby asked out of curiosity.

"Roughly five weeks ago. She said that they were really making progress in reviving the mines." Nora said as she stood on a small rock trying to balance on one foot.

Ozpin shook his head, "I'm sorry, Ms. Valkyrie. But I don't think we should go that route. Not unless we have no other option."

Nora pouted as she jumped down form the rock. Ren looked out to the sky, he saw what looked like a haze in the clouds to the east. While Blake and Weiss managed to knock down Boromir, everyone else looked east to see what Ren was looking at.

"What is that?" Yang asked out loud.

Jaune squinted his eyes, "Could be just a storm cloud."

Boromir stood up from his defeat by the two huntresses and looked at the same thing they were, "It's moving fast… and against the wind."

Ren's eyes widened at the realization of what the were, "Nevermore swarm!"

"HIDE THE TRUCKS!" Jaune shouted as he and Yang pulled out the camouflage tarps and threw them over the trucks and bikes. Ruby and Ozpin gathered their things and put out the fire by kicking the dirt over it to snuff it out.

Ren then held his hands outward and shouted, "EVERYONE STAY STILL!" He then activated his semblance and covered everyone in his 'Grimm-invisibility' as the swarm passed right by the camp. They circled around once and then flew off westward.

Once the Nevermores were out of range, Ren dropped his arms and fell to his knees. Luckily Nora was able to catch him before he hit the ground.

Everyone gathered near the trucks, "What the hell was that?" Weiss asked in complete shock.

"It was almost like they were… on a patrol." Blake said with confusion.

Ozpin grumbled in anger, "No doubt Saruman asked Salem to spy on the southern regions to look for us."

"Then slipping though the Grimm territories is impossible." Jaune states.

"We must take the mountain pass." Ozpin recommended.

Everyone looked at the mountain range to the East and saw a wall of stone and snow; Yang couldn't help but feel fearful. "It won't be like last time, this time we are traveling in the winter time, which means there may be 4 inches of snow up there."

"Our vehicles can handle at most 6; but we will be staying on the main path, so we should be safer." Jaune says with a bit of a hopeful voice.

Ozpin looks to Ruby, she nods in agreement.

* * *

It took roughly a week for them to find a safer and more discreet way to the top of the mountain range. As they were driving through the snowy tundra, there were times they had to get out of the Pitbull and push it over potholes.

One of the times they got stuck in a pothole, Ruby was helping push but lost her footing. She fell down a small hill, tumbling backwards until she rolled onto a more flat surface. Jaune turned to see her fall and ran after her; once he made it to her he helped her to stand back up.

Ruby put her hand on her chest and then looked around, "I dropped it! Where did it go?"

Jaune looked around with her as they looked up the trail she made when she fell, they both look up to see Boromir standing there with the ring on the chain, in his hand.

Jaune looked at how Boromir looked into the Ring's jewel, it was almost like how he looked into the Arkenstone the first time. "Boromir."

Boromir looked into the jewel, "It is a strange fate that we should so much fear and doubt… over something so small…" He held his other hand underneath it, almost as if he was about to pull it off the chain it was on.

"BOROMIR!" Jaune shouted loud enough that it almost echoed in the tundra. "Give the ring back to Ruby."

Boromir shook his head awake and looked down at the ring then back to him and Ruby. He waited until Jaune and ruby walked up to him and handed it to Ruby, "Of course. It _is_ your job to hold it." He said as he patted her shoulder and walked over to the truck.

Ruby looked to Jaune with a nervous look on her face, he nodded in understanding. He motioned her to go on back to the truck, just as he let go of his gun in his holster.

They got back in the truck and continued their way up the mountain. As they got higher, the path started to get thinner. Jaune and Yang drove in front to help guide the trucks, as they were getting higher.

* * *

Meanwhile in Haven Academy, a swarm of Nevermores flew around the tower in a tornado form. As they were flying around the tower, Saruman was looking into the Palantir and saw what the Grimm couldn't.

He then used the sphere to see that they were heading up the mountains, "So, Ozpin… you are leading them over the mountains." He then let go and walked over to one of the windows. "But if that plan were to fail… where else would you risk going?"

* * *

As the Fellowship drives on a thin path, Jaune and Yang rode ahead to make sure the trucks wouldn't drive off the cliff side due to a quick turn. They had to drive slowly; with the engines running so low, Ren could have sworn he heard a voice carried in the air.

He opened his door and ran in front of Jaune and Yang, stopping them and the convoy. Ren turned his head and removed his scarf from his left ear, "I hear a voice in the air!" she shouted over the loud wind.

"It's Saruman!" Ozpin shouted back.

Just then a large chunk of ice fell from the higher cliffs above. Boromir looked up and saw more ice and snow falling, "He's trying to bring down the mountain!"

Yang looked up and saw a storm rolling in overhead, and then a lightning bolt hit the top of the mountain. She then saw an avalanche come down from above, "HEADS DOWN!"

Jaune and Boromir ran as fast as they could in the snow and stood at the center of the convoy. While Jaune's aura was a slight yellow tint, Boromir's aura looked pure white. They held out their hands and formed a large light-barrier around all the vehicles. The avalanche came down hard, covering the barrier like a river around rock.

Once the initial avalanche ended, a large layer of snow appeared to have been pushed off from the cliff side. Jaune and Boromir started panting, the weight of the snow and rock was greater than either of them could hold alone. To make a personal barrier was easy, but to make a wide one usually causes more strain to their strength.

Jaune rewrapped his scarf over his face; the wind was so strong it almost pulled it off his neck. Jaune looked to everyone else, "You good?"

Blake and Ren waved him off, while Yang gave a thumb up. Jaune looked to see Boromir light on his feet so he helped him stand up against his truck. It was then he noticed how weak he was too.

"We must get off the mountain." Boromir shouts over the wind, "I saw a Sky Knight base on the way up. If we take a plane and fly straight for Atlas, we can cut the time of our journey in half!"

Jaune rolled his eyes, "Saruman just caused a storm right above us, ON A MOUNTAIN! The moment he realizes we are in a plane there would be nothing stopping him from throwing a typhoon at us."

"HOW DID HE DO THAT, ANYWAY!?" Ruby shouted, never in all her years had she heard of someone causing a storm.

"Saruman has the semblance to change wind currents and temperature in the atmosphere." Ozpin stated, "Essentially he can cause a storm where ever he wants, so long as it is in sight. And with the Palantir in his possession-"

"He can see us and cause a storm whenever he wants." Pyrrha exclaimed. She had heard he old Mistral folklore of that crystal ball; the moment she heard Ozpin say it's name, she realized just how much trouble they were in.

"Guys, there's no way for us to go around the mountain! So lets go through it! We should make for the mines of Moria!" Nora shouted over the wind.

Ozpin's eyes widened, he knew that it would be a dangerous gamble. The last time he was contacted by the Lady of Moria, Nora's grandmother, she said that they discovered something deep beneath the darkest cavern; something big, evil, ancient, and covered in shadowy flame.

But they were low on other alternatives; risk flying or risk the mines. "Let the Ring bearer decide…" Ozpin said.

Ruby looked to the others and then to Nora, "We will go for through the mines."

Ozpin nodded, "So be it."

* * *

It took about eight days for the Fellowship to go down the mountain the way they came, having most of their trail covered by the avalanche didn't exactly help their travel time. Luckily once they reached the roots of the mountains, Nora was able to lead them to the only entrance to Moria she knew of.

They followed a river that ran parallel with the mountain; Nora used it as their guiding path to the entrance. As they were driving on the road, Ozpin had Ruby sit in the passenger seat beside him.

"Ms. Rose, how is your shoulder?" Ozpin asked.

Ruby lifted her head and looked to her headmaster, "Better than it was a few weeks ago."

"And the Ring?" Ozpin asked. This time he looked her in the eye and saw a bit of the worry in her gaze. "You feel its power growing, don't you?" She nodded. "So do I."

"It's not like there is anything we can do to stop it." Blake said with a bit of an annoyed tone.

Ozpin agreed in that feeling, but this wasn't his point, "Evil will be drawn to that it, any form of evil. And I have a feeling that it will also attract an evil within our Fellowship."

Ruby, Weiss and Blake all looked to Ozpin in slight shock. Ruby looked away, "Whom are we supposed to trust, then?"

Ozpin looked at her briefly and saw that he frightened her, so he decided to say something he was once told when he was afraid, "Trust in yourself, Ruby… Trust the strength you alone have."

Ruby looked at him with curiosity, "What do you mean?"

"Ruby… There are many forms of magic in this world, some good and others evil. There are some greater than Knights and Maidens, and there are some that have yet to reveal themselves." Ozpin says with a calm voice.

Ruby sat back in her seat, "I'm guessing my 'silver eye' thing is one of them?"

Ozpin chuckled, "Somewhat. Your eyes aren't just a product of genetics; like how Jaune is one of the few Star Knights in history to have the power to make his wings, you yourself have a great power inside of you. A power that has a great destiny ahead of you."

There was only one known historical record of a Knight that had wings, and that was 85 years ago. And to top it off, there is a Silver Eyed warrior that had the power to freeze a dragon solid for two years. _"Everything happens for a reason… They always do…"_ Ozpin thought to himself. Suddenly they heard Nora gasping.

"Look, there it is!" Nora called out on the radio, "Moria is just ahead!" The group looked to where she was pointing and saw a large stone wall with a lake resting at its base. With Nora eagerly taking the lead, the Fellowship descended the ravine and parked their vehicles next to the wall. While the others set up camp, Nora led Ozpin, Boromir, Jaune and Ruby in a search for the door.

"Valkyrie stone masons are incredibly skilled," Nora stated as she tapped the wall with her knuckles, "Any door they make becomes completely invisible when they're shut."

"Yes, I've heard those stories," Ozpin replied, "Even their own makers can't find them if they forget where they are."

"Somehow, I'm not surprised," Ruby said with a smirk. Suddenly Nora felt a familiar etching one the rock face as she traced her hand on it.

"I think I found it," she said, remembering what her grandmother taught her, "Valkyrie runes only reflect starlight, or a full moon." Then as if on cue, the overcast faded away to reveal the full moon itself. With the silver light shining down, the runes began to glow and revealed their text, and a hidden component opened to reveal a small keyboard with strange letters on it. Ozpin held his cane up to the ruins and began to translate the runes.

"It says, 'The doors of Sif, Lady of Moria. Speak, friend, and enter,'" he read.

"What exactly does that mean?" Yang asked as she and everyone else came over.

"Well, if it means that you're a friend, you type in the password and the door opens," Nora answered as she approached the keyboard. She then began speaking a strange language, which Ruby and Weiss assumed was Old Valkyrie, as she began to type the words into the keyboard, but when she stopped, the doors remained shut. She tried again with different words, but with no results.

"Looks like we'll be here for a while," Weiss stated. While Nora tried different words and phrases to unlock the door, Ruby and Yang decided to pass the time by skipping rocks. Yang threw hers first and made it halfway across the lake. But just as Ruby was about to throw hers, a hand suddenly caught her arm. Looking up, Ruby saw Boromir looking at her with a concerned expression on his face.

"Don't disturb the water," he said, "There are worse things underwater than on land." Nodding, Ruby and Yang put their rocks down and rejoined the others.

Pyrrha looked at the runes again and recited what Ozpin translated. When she said it out loud she realized something. "Wait," she said "It's a riddle. 'Speak, _friend_ , and enter.' Hey Nora, what's Old Valkyrie for 'friend?'" Nora widened her eyes.

" _Vinr_ ," Nora replied as she typed in the short word. The group began to hear a rumbling sound and saw the door split down the middle before opening, revealing a dark cavern. Jaune turned to the group.

"Alright, we're going to have to go in on foot," he said, "The trucks are too big to travel in a place like this, and we need to be discreet."

"But what about the bikes?" Yang asked, practically hugging the motorcycle she borrowed.

"He's right," Boromir said, "Even if we managed to get the bikes into the mines, the loud noise from the engine would likely attract Grimm to our location." Sulking, Yang set up the kickstand on her motorcycle and took her bag off. Once everyone had their bags, they walked into the cavern, where Ozpin lit up the end of his cane like a flashlight. Nora was looking absolutely elated.

"Soon, you guys will see how Valkyries like to party," she said proudly, "Loud music, endless beer, and the best steaks you've ever had. This place is the home of my grandma Sif, and Atlas says it's a mine. Ha!" Boromir was about to retort when he stepped on something. He looked down, but then immediately wished he hadn't.

"This isn't a mine, it's a tomb," he said, prompting Ozpin to increase the light on his cane. Everyone saw the horror before them and realized that Boromir was right. The bodies of fallen soldiers and Huntsmen lay about the cavern floor, many of them still in the process of decay. Nora ran over to one and dropped to her knees, crying in despair. Weiss, horrified and disgusted, dropped to her hands and knees and proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach onto the cavern floor.

"How long have these bodies been here?" Ren asked.

"Long enough that they don't stink anymore," Boromir replied, having seen similar massacres like this before, "Four months at least." Pyrrha knelt down next to a corpse and saw an arrow sticking out of its rib cage. Pulling it out, she held it closer to get a better look at the tip. At first, she thought it was a normal arrow, but then she noticed the arrowhead had a familiar look to it. If she didn't know any better, she would have thought they were made of black glass. Then Pyrrha felt a stinging pain in her chest and put her hand over the area where she was shot.

"Pyrrha, what is it?" Jaune asked, kneeling down next to his girlfriend.

"Nothing," she lied, "I've never seen arrows like these before." Jaune took the arrow and examined the tip. Realizing what danger they were potentially in, he threw it down and drew Joyuse.

"Goblins!" he spat as everyone looked at him.

"Crap, not again," Blake muttered as she readied Gambol Shroud's gun mode.

"I say we leave and make for the nearest Sky Knight base, then catch a flight to Atlas," Boromir said, "I'm willing to risk crashing over being here!"

"Agreed," Jaune replied, "Let's get out of here, guys!" Suddenly Ruby felt something wrap around her ankle and drag her out of the cave with a scream. Everyone turned and saw her in the clutches of a rather large Grimm. Weiss and Yang ran out and caught Ruby before the tentacle could drag her any further, while Blake sliced it off Ruby's ankle. The stump of the limb retreated back into the lake, and was suddenly succeeded by six more tentacles that shot out of the water and swatted Ruby's teammates aside like bugs.

As the tentacles grabbed Ruby and started dangling her over the water, Jaune drew his pistol and fired an explosive shot, blowing the tentacle holding Ruby's waist clean off. The Grimm then raised its head out of the water, looked directly at Ruby and opened its mouth, prompting Ruby to reach for Crescent Rose, only for the Grimm to grab her arm with another of its tentacles. Yang, in a desperate attempt to save her sister, fired a shot with Ember Celica and blasted another of its arms off, causing it to drop Ruby and allowing Jaune to pull her back.

"Get into the mines, quick!" Ozpin shouted as everyone made a mad dash for the cave. Nora, in a fit of rage over what happened to her clan, fired a shot from her grenade launcher and scored a hit in the creature's eye. Enraged, the Grimm hauled itself onto the shore and grabbed the doors with its arms and began pulling them apart, taking huge chunks of stone down with them. The Fellowship could only watch as the entrance became completely sealed off by huge slabs of rock.

"That was horrible!" Ruby cried as she held Pyrrha, "It was like something out of Blake's books!"

"Hey, I don't read those kinds of books!" Blake said indignantly.

"What exactly was that thing?" Weiss asked as she was trying to calm down.

Boromir held his sword out and made it glow, providing everyone with a light, "They're called Watchers. They act like guard dogs for Grimm territories. More specifically for aquatic and marine types."

"Alright, everyone be quiet," Jaune said as he made his sword glow along with Boromir's.

"Now we only have one choice," Ozpin said as he lit his cane once again, "We must cross through Moria. Everyone, keep your guard up. There are worse things than Grimm in places like this. Now let's get going. It'll take us four days to get to the other side, if we're lucky."

* * *

 **AN: Boy was that insane. Now the group goes into the bowels of Moria…**

 **I would like to give credit to my partners whom helped me get this far in the story, and the support they gave me to keep going. The same goes to my followers who help me to remember this story.**

 **Please R &R!**

 **I forgot to write this last time, ARKOS!**


	10. Darkness Burns in the Deep

**Darkness Burns in the Deep**

* * *

 **AN: Here is where our group travels into the darkness of Moria.  
Chapter 10 special!**

 **Sorry again for being late, I have a lot on my plate these past few weeks.**

 **Anyway, here we go!**

* * *

In Haven Academy, Saruman and Locus were standing in the Headmaster's office. Saruman had his hand over the Palantir; he shifted his fingers around it a few times as his eyes began to squint. He kept shifting around until he let go out of frustration.

"What is it?" Locus asked.

"I lost them." Saruman said with anger in his tone. Locus cocked his head, "What do you mean you lost them?"

Saruman looked to Locus with annoyance in his eyes, "I mean as I say! I can't see them anymore!"

"I thought you said this thing could let you see everything!?" Locus asked as he walked around the Palantir with frustration.

"It's the Palantir, not the Eye of Sauron. It has limits to its vision!" Saruman said as he sat down on his desk. He leaned forward over his desk and held his head up with both his hands.

Locus walked up to the desk and lean on it, "Where were they before you lost them?"

Saruman sat up and leaned into his chair, "They were entering Moria. They were attacked by a Watcher just before the gateway collapsed behind them."

Locus pushed himself off the desk and then walked back and forth, "Moria… Goblins took that labyrinth months ago… It'll take them within 3-4 days to reach the other side, it would be longer if they prioritized stealth."

Saruman stood back up and walked over to the Palantir, "Stealth won't be an option for them."

"What do you mean?" Locus asks with confusion.

Saruman held his hand over the Palantir and revealed something in the orb; it was mostly blacked out, but Locus could see two burning red eyes looking at him from the orb. "The Valkyries of Moria dug too carelessly and too deep for their own good. They dug up something that hasn't been seen for over 10,000 years… maybe more…"

"What could possibly live that long down there?" Locus asked with a bit of fear creeping down his spine. Those burning red eyes almost looked like they were looking directly at him, as if it was peeking into his soul through his helmet.

Saruman let go of the orb and looked at Locus with a more neutral, "Let's just say that there is a darkness down there… a darkness that burns in the shadows." He then put's a silk veil over the orb and walks over to the elevator, "Come, my friend. We have our own priorities to worry about."

Locus snapped out of his fear-trance, "But our orders?"

"There's nothing we can do until we receive word that they are topside. And they will be." Saruman says as he presses the button to the elevator, "Until then, we have our own priorities."

* * *

The group held their weapons at the ready for the first few hours of their walk through the mine. They passed by an old tramway system that ran through the whole labyrinth. Unfortunately there was no power for the tram, and the entrance to the tunnel was caved in, they were given no other alternative than walking though the city on foot.

As the first 'night' came and they set up camp, they found an old house built into one of the cave walls that were big enough for them all to fit inside.

Jaune and Boromir took the first watch shift. While Boromir was sitting near the front entrance, Jaune was counting their inventory they were able to salvage after the collapse.

After searching through the last bag he walked up to Boromir and sat on the opposite side of the doorway to him, with his back to the wall. "Anything?"

"It's quiet and I can hardly see anything…" Boromir whispered as he continued to look outside the house. "This is the worst place to be…"

Jaune adjusted his body so that he'd be more comfortable, "Well, you'll get no argument form me."

Boromir then leaned his back against the wall and sat down opposite from Jaune. "Well, what do we have left?"

Jaune rubbed his head a few times and then started counting his fingers, "Well, we used up a sizable amount of Dust against the Watcher. Our food supply is low; two bags didn't make it when the tunnel collapsed. And since we are thousands of kilometers underneath granite and solid rock, there is no possible connection to the CCT down here."

Boromir sighed quietly, "How sizable is the amount of Dust?"

"We used up 35% already. We can last with what we have for two weeks." Jaune says as he draws his pistol and drops the magazine to show Boromir the Dust he currently has, "But if we were to get into something big, like against three packs of Grimm, we would only have enough for one fight like that."

Jaune sighed, "This was a bad call…"

"I could have told you that." Boromir said with an annoyed voice.

"Yeah, well, I wanted to say it…" Jaune said as he pulled his knees into his chest, "How many have you lost?"

"What?" Boromir asked.

"How many good men have you lost because you made a bad call?" Jaune asked more elaborately. Boromir could see that Jaune was genuinely curious about his answer to the question.

Boromir looked to Jaune as if he was talking to a cadet in boot camp, "Bad calls happen all the time, Arc… You'll run into them soon enough."

"I already have…" Jaune stated.

"Really?" Boromir asked with curiosity.

"It was a few weeks after the Battle, I had gotten word that some of the Grimm that scattered after the battle were going for villages that didn't have much protection after the Atlas forces were gone form the Wall." Jaune said as he gripped his hands tightly, "I ordered a few dozen of squads to block the Grimm as the civilians were evacuated."

"That doesn't sound like a bad call…" Boromir said with a curios look.

"What I didn't know was that most of those hoards had War Beast class Grimm with them. Death Ravagers, Goliaths, you name it…" Jaune gripped his hands tighter, "Out of the 14 squads I sent in, only one made it out with any survivors. And that was by the time we learned of how big the enemy force was."

Boromir sat up and looked Jaune in the eye, "You can't let your mistakes eat away at you, Arc… You let them and you'll fall apart when your team needs you most. To risk the lives of men in battle is one of the heaviest burdens of leadership." Boromir spoke with a tone of experience. "Gods know I encountered a few of those in my service."

Boromir may not have been the nicest of people in the group, but he was the most sympathetic when it came to the burden of command. He may still think the Battle of the Five Armies was mistake on behalf of a childish impulse, but he had a small bit of respect for Jaune in saving both Vale and Atlas lives that day.

The rest of their watch went on without another word; Blake and Yang replaced Jaune and Boromir when their shift ended. While Jaune lay down next to Pyrrha, he kept going over what Boromir said to him. _"Burdens of leadership…"_ He then looked to Ozpin, who was asleep in the corner, and then he looked back down at Pyrrha who moved a bit closer to him as she sensed his presence beside her.

Making Pyrrha the maiden may have been a risky move, but it was a risk he though would save the kingdom. It ended badly, but it wasn't a bad call. But that was four years ago, a lot has happened since then. And Pyrrha was back, she was alive, and they got their kingdom back. _"The only burden he's suffering now is my anger towards him… and he doesn't deserve that. Dad would think so too."_ Jaune closed his eyes as he wrapped his arm around Pyrrha and went to sleep.

* * *

The time came for them to travel again and they made their way though one of the mines of the labyrinth. As they entered, they had to walk through some narrow walkways and catwalks that were over deep chasm.

For Weiss, it looked a lot like how most Dust mines looked, only this one didn't have a faint glow from any Dust fragments in the rock face.

Ozpin stopped the group and shined his light down the chasm, "The wealth of Moria was not in Dust, but in Mithril…"

"Diamond steel, as most call it." Nora states with pride.

"I've heard of the substance… It is as hard as the strongest steel, and weigh no less than a feather." Boromir said with interested.

"Jaune, I believe your sister was given a shirt of Mithril rings a few years ago?" Ozpin asked.

Jaune remembered, "Yeah, she said that the Lady of Moria gave it to her as a gift."

Nora laughed a bit, "That would be a gift fit for a KING!"

"Yes, indeed," Ozpin agreed. "Your father never told her, but that shirt alone was worth more than Beacon Academy's total cost of building and maintaining."

As they continued, Ruby couldn't help but brush her hand over her belly to feel the chainmail beneath. _"Holly OUM!"_

They continued down the mineshaft until they made it to another doorway that brought them deeper into the city. They then found themselves climbing up a staircase and pass by several houses that were build along it's walls.

They climbed up for what felt like hours, they kept going until they found themselves at a fork in the road. They reached the top of the stares, but now they were faced with three hallways. Ozpin walked to the first one, then walked across it to the second, then the third.

"What's wrong?" Boromir asks in a confused tone.

"I don't know where to go…" Ozpin says with a concerned voice.

Everyone looked to Nora but she shook her head, "I'm used to taking the tramway, I don't know my way on foot."

Jaune looked left and walked up to another house, he looked around and saw that it was open enough for the group. "We can stay here for the night, and decide where to go in the morning."

Everyone agreed and made some fires in the house's fireplace. Yang and Blake cooked up some sausages and ham for their dinner. Nora told them that since the labyrinth was so wide that even if someone or something smelled the food, the air current inside the mountain would have scattered the scent too much for them to find the group.

Sleep took everyone quickly; spending two days walking in the dark is a lot more tiring than one would think. Jaune didn't wake up until 8am for his shift of the watch, he walked out of the house to find Ozpin awake and sitting on a stone in the middle of the three hallways.

Jaune woke up Blake to get the others ready, while he walked over to Ozpin as he was sitting.

Jaune sat down on the rock beside Ozpin and cleared his throat, "Ozpin... you have a minute?"

"Sure." He said as he was still debating on which path to take.

Jaune lowered his head as he spoke, "You don't have to say anything... I just think it should be said... I'm sorry I didn't forgive you sooner."

Ozpin's mind stopped in that instant. He slowly sat up straight and looked to Jaune as he continued. "When I became a Star Knight, I had to make my own decisions that put the lives of those who trusted me at risk." Jaune's hands began to grip tightly, "And given all that we've been through the past few weeks, just to keep that Ring out of Salem's hands, it makes a lot more sense why you tried to keep all of us out of it back then."

Jaune lifted his head and looked Ozpin in the eye, "I still think you were wrong to keeping me in the dark; but you were keeping my father's promise…" Jaune looked away, looking back on what happened as a result of him not letting go of his anger, sadness, and doubt.

"Last time I let my darkness consume me it almost costed my friends, my family, and my life... I don't want it to consume me anymore." Jaune lowered his head and squinted his eyes tightly, "I'm so sorry that I made you think that I hated you…"

Ozpin rested his hand on Jaune's shoulder and brushed his thumb across the top, "I never thought you hated me…" Jaune slowly looked back to him. "And I believe, without a single doubt, that your darkness will not consume you again."

Jaune smiled a bit, for a second there he almost thought he was talking to his father. _"They are more alike than I thought…"_

Unknowing to either of them, Pyrrha was listening not too far away, she began to smile with both comfort and pride in Jaune. Just then she heard Ozpin say "Ha!" which made her feel that she was spotted, but then she heard "It's that way."

Everyone in the house picked up their things and rushed out when they heard Ozpin spoke aloud. Blake ran out while throwing her bag over her shoulder, "You know the way out?"

"Somewhat." Ozpin said as he started walking down the middle hallway, "The air down this corridor isn't as foul, which means that the bad smell is escaping somewhere."

Everyone began to follow Ozpin as they walked down the hallway. "When in doubt, always follow your nose."

"Your nose knows, eh!" Yang said with a wink as she raised her hand up to Boromir. He looked at her and rolled his eyes as he walked down the corridor. "Oh come on! That was a good one!"

Everyone then shushed her due to the fact that she was almost yelling in the middle of an echo chamber.

* * *

As they continued down the hallway, they found themselves entering a wider area. Ozpin shined his light a bit brighter and revealed several large pillars in the darkness. "Behold, the great realm and ancient Valkyrie city of Dwarrowdelf."

Everyone marveled over the giant pillars, they looked to be solid stone, carved into the near perfect shapes they were in now. Nora looked at them with a bit of pride, "Valkyrie craftsmanship was legendary back in the early days of Vale."

They made their way through the hall, trying to find a proper guide to find where to go from there. At most they were wondering in the dark looking for any sign of an exit or map to the current area they were in.

As they were walking, Nora felt she was in a familiar place. She though she'd feel happy, but something made her feel dread. Ren saw her discomfort and walked up to her, "Are you ok?"

Nora shook her head, "I feel like I was only hear last week, and now I can barely remember it." She stopped walking and looked Ren in the eye, "Do you think my grandma got out in time, or any of my people."

Ren put his hands on both her shoulders, "Your grandmother is tough, like you always say. If there was a way to her self and your people out, she would have." Nora nodded and gave Ren a quick hug and then they continued down the hall.

Less than an hour later, they found what appeared to be a beam of sunlight shining down into a doorway. Nora looked on the walls around the doorway and read the inscriptions, and when she translated the words she shouted, "NO!"

"NORA!" Jaune shouted back as she ran into the room with the sunlight.

Everyone else ran after her and entered the room and found it to be a tomb of some sort. There were several bodies everywhere, judging by their armor, they were Valkyrie soldiers. Nora walked up to a stone coffin in the center of the room and dropped her hammer. "No…"

She fell to her knees and put her hands on the stone as she put her head against it as she began to cry. Ren walked up to her and knelt down beside her, putting his hand over her shoulders, letting her know he was there. She quickly turned to him and hugged on him tightly, Ren could feel her tears dripping into his shoulder.

Ozpin walked up to the head of the coffin and read the inscription out loud to everyone, "'Here lies Sif Valkyrie, Lady of Moira'. She is dead, then…"

Jaune walked up to Nora and Ren and put his hand on her shoulder, "I'm so sorry, Nora…"

Ozpin looks down to see a soldier holding a book, it was old, but appeared to be mostly intact. He picked it up and opened to the last few pages, hoping to find a little more insight into what happened to Moria and her people.

Blake walked up to Jaune and whispered, "We can't stay here. We need to keep moving."

Just before Jaune could respond, Ozpin read the last passage out loud. " 'They have taken northern entrance and the second hall. We have bard the passageways to the East and West, but we cannot hold them for long. As far as I know, the civilians were all transported to the western gate and are being escorted by some of our men. Lady Sif has ordered us to ensure that those civilians have a chance to escape, so we have ensured our won fate to die here in order to save our people. We can feel the ground shake beneath our feet, and hear drums beating in the deep. We cannot get out. There is something else down here, something that we have never seen before.' "

Ozpin stops he looked hesitant to continue, Jaune looks to him in confusion, "What, that's all of it?"

Ozpin looks down to Nora and says what is written in the book, " 'This last passage must be given to Nora Valkyrie.' "

Nora lifted her head off of Ren's shoulder as she heard Ozpin say her name. She stood up from the ground and looked to Ozpin, she nodded at him to continue. "'Nora, our people are heading west, most likely to Vacuo. Find them. Keep them safe. Ensure the survival of House Valkyrie.' " Ozpin then reads a small scribble at the bottom that he tried to read, he could only make out three words, "They are coming."

Ruby was looking around and saw an old Valkyrie war hammer, bigger than the one Nora had, leaning against a wall. She lifted it up to find it to be very heavy, but soon found herself off balance and backed up sharply, trying not to fall. The hammer's rusted head broke off its neck and fell down a well behind Ruby tried to reach for it but it was too far out of her grasp.

Everyone turned dot her as the loud banging and crashing echoed though the well and echoed through the mine below. Everyone stood completely still as the crashing continued for less than a minute, but it felt longer. Then the crashing stopped and everyone held their collective breath, waiting to know if anyone or anything heard that. Everyone then let out a sigh of relief as no new sounds were made.

Weiss walked up to Ruby and slapped her upside the head, "Damn it, Ruby! We're trying to be DISCRETE!" she hissed in loud whispers.

Their moment of relief ended quickly when they started to hear the beating drums echo the halls. Blake closed her eyes and recognized the sounds of the creatures that were coming for them, "Goblins!"

Boromir ran over to the doorway to see if there were any coming, but he backed up quickly as two arrows flew past his head and hit the door. He then closed the door just as Jaune closed the other, "And they have a Golem!"

They both used old rusted weapons as locks and pinned the door shut just as the Goblins started pushing against it. The Fellowship readied their weapons for battle. Ruby seemed the most nervous, "What's a Golem?"

Boromir unsheathed his sword and activated his collapsible disk shield, "They're big and hard to kill."

Nora held her hammer with both hands and made a very serious face, "Let them come! There's still one Valkyrie left in Moria that breathes!"

Blades and axes were pounding the door; everyone had their long-range weapons ready. Just as an axe opened a small hole in the door, Ren fired a shot though it, hitting the Goblin behind it. Jaune did the same when he saw a sword break though the other door.

Just then both doors were broken down and a hoard of Goblins rushed in, everyone opened fire on the first few creatures that were unlucky to be first in line. They kept coming in to the point that some of the Fellowship had to engage in close quarters.

Ruby switched to scythe mode and swung her weapon widely, decapitating a half a dozen goblins with one swipe. Weiss used some of her glyphs to knock some Goblins off their feet and then shot fire dust at them to blast them away. Blake unsheathed her sword and used it and the sheath as she swung at the goblins with both blades. Prior to the breech, Yang loaded her gauntlets with short range shot gun shells, so whenever she punched one, the body part she hit was obliterated by the blast.

Jaune swung his blade fiercely, cutting some goblin's arms off while decapitating others. Pyrrha quickly converted her rifle into a javelin and proceeded to fight four Goblins at once, similar to how she fought CRDL on her won. Ren moved fast, slitting goblin necks or shooting some in the chest. Nora swung her hammer hard and with anger, there were some that she collapsed their rib cage and others that had their heads shatter like an egg.

Ozpin swung his cane faster than the goblins could react. One minute he was blocking a strike, the next he had already hit them in the face, knocking them to the ground. He would even blind a few with the light form his Dust shard, and then he would knock you down three times over. Boromir proved to be worthy of his position when he cut down several Goblins at once with a single swing. He even bisected a Goblin across its chest and then decapitated another with his shield when it was trying to blind-side him.

It was only the first minute of the fight and they felt that they had it under control, until they heard the loud stomps just outside the doorway come closer. Ruby looked to the doorway and saw something out there, and then it turned into what looked like a liquid and moved inside the room. The liquid then formed into a large body that was all black and had a white skull for a head. It looked to be almost twice the size of an Ursa and had little to no white bones except the skull.

" _That_ is a Golem." Boromir said after hitting a goblin with his shield.

Just then the beast's arms formed into black broad axes and started swinging at the team. Ruby ducked down and tumble rolled under the beast's feet. Once on the opposite side she readied her sniper rifle and aimed for its skull. It turned around to her and was shot right through the forehead, almost instantly the forehead bone reformed and the beast's eyes squinted at Ruby, "Uh oh."

It then put its hands together to make a large hammer but was stopped when its arms were caught on a hook. Behind it, Blake had Gambol Shroud in its scythe mode and wrapped around the beast's wrists. She, Boromir and Jaune pulled hard until Ruby could get up and out of the way.

Instead of turning around, the Golem turned its head around, reabsorbed its hammer into its hands and then grabbed onto Gambol Shroud with one of its hands. Jaune and Blake let go just as the beast pulled, but Boromir wasn't so lucky.

Boromir was sent flying into a wall and hit the ground hard. As he was getting back up, he saw a Goblin run at him while he was down. Just then Gambol Shroud impaled the goblin's gut and killed it. Boromir looked to see Blake standing in a pose telling she just threw something. She gave him a nod, and he returned it.

The Golem then ran into the center of the room just as Nora was firing some of her grenades at its chest. Some of the blasts proved to slow it down, but it didn't look harmed. Nora then converted her weapon into hammer mode just as the Golem swung its arm down towards her. She jumped out of the way; just as her hammer swung around and hit the Golem's skull jaw and broke it clean off.

Pyrrha was fighting on one of the high rises in the room, spearing a few unlucky goblins like a shishkebab. She then dodged a rock that was thrown at her from below and saw it came from the Golem. It looked to be throwing another, and she jumped over the rock, use her magnetic semblance to carry her enough to land on the Golem's head. She converted Milo into a gun and fired straight down on its head, all that seamed to do is piss it off.

She quickly got down before it had a chance to crush her between its arms. Weiss formed a glyph and shot several ice shards at the beast's back. When the shards hit, it howled.

Boromir grabbed Weiss and moved her out of the way just as a clay axe flew at her direction. Boromir then helped her to stand, "Elemental Dust attacks are the only things that hurt it; regular bullets just add more to the mass!"

With that new information, Ruby switched her bullets to electro Dust. She fired three shots at its left leg and heard the beast howl in pain. It then turned to her with rage filled eyes, "Crap!"

Ren grabbed Ruby and lead her to one of the high raises as the Golem chased them. It swung a big hammer down on them just as Ren pushed Ruby behind one pillar while he dove behind another.

The Golem looked around for Ruby behind her pillar, she quietly loaded an ice round as the beast moved its head around the pillar. She evaded the head by walking around the pillar just ahead of it, and did so again when it tried going the other way. Just as she pulled back on the bolt back and pushed it forward, the pillar she was leaning against was smashed between two large hammers. The shockwave form the pillar exploding pushed her against the opposite wall, face first.

She looked up to find a large black hammer coming down; she quickly fired an ice round at the hammer and froze it solid. The Golem backed off, looking at the arm in confusion, then the hammer shattered when Ren started firing both his pistols at it on full-auto.

The Golem then swung it's broken bits at Ren, forcing him to hide, and then grabbed Ruby by her leg as she was standing back up. Jaune saw Ruby in trouble and ran as fast as he could.

He sheathed his sword and formed his Long Sword mode. He then energized the blade and sliced the beast's arm right off at the elbow, assuming it had one. The burns from Jaune's aura made the Golem back off, but it didn't look like it was done.

Ruby quickly got back up and aimed her rifle at the beast's face but was knocked away with Jaune as the Golem smashed another hammer down in front of them.

Ruby looked to her right and saw that Jaune was too dazed to get up, the Golem howled at her as it swung an axe in her direction. She blocked the axe with her scythe just before it could hit Jaune on the ground.

From behind, Ren and Blake were firing their pistols, trying to get the beast's attention away from Ruby. The beast continued to press its axe down on Ruby with no sign of stopping. Ruby then directed the axe blade into a wall and then quickly swung her scythe up, cutting the skull off the beast.

The skull went up and landed back on the black mass, it reformed its connection to the body and growled. The Golem then swung its axe at Ruby again, and this time it formed finger spikes and stabbed her in the chest with three of them. Ruby let out a gasped; Ren and Blake could see the shock and pain all across her face.

"RUBY!" Blake shouted.

The Golem let her go and drew back its axe. Just as it was about to drop a hammer down on them both, a burning Yang jumped on its back. She was screaming as she was shooting at its skull with fire dust.

The Golem flailed around, trying to shake Yang off it's back, it even tried to shoot spike from it's back to try to impale her. But every spike that came out was broken when it hit her aura field.

Boromir, Ozpin and Pyrrha finished off the remaining Goblins as Ren, Nora, Blake and Weiss helped Yang finish the Golem.

"Yang, get off now!" Weiss said as she formed a large glyph that shot out a big wave of ice and super cooled air.

Yang jumped down in time as the Golem froze in place; it was almost like a big ice statue. Blake could see the opportunity they had and shouted orders, "Nora, Yang, aim for the head!"

Yang and Nora both ran at the frozen Golem and hit the skull as hard as they could. The frozen Golem shattered to pieces. As Yang landed, she immediately ran to Ruby, while Nora kicked one of the larger ice chunks, "Is it dead?"

The ice then began to evaporate the same way any Grimm would, Ren smirked, "Yeah, it's dead. RUBY!"

Pyrrha ran to Jaune and helped him up, he looked to see Yang lift up Ruby and see her breathing heavily. "Ruby!"

"She's alive!" Yang called with joy.

Ruby stood up and hugged Yang, "I'm ok…" She sounded like she hand the wind knocked out of her.

Everyone ran over to Ruby and saw that she was ok, although she appeared to be having slight difficulty breathing. "A blow like that would have killed an Ursa!" Boromir said with complete shock.

"I think there's more to this reaper than meets the eye." Ozpin says with a bit of a smile.

Ruby pulled down the V of her shirt to reveal the Mithril shirt beneath. "Mithril…" Nora said with her eyes full of joy.

"I didn't think that still fit you." Jaune said.

Ruby winked at Jaune, "Luckily I got it resized."

Their moment of relief was ended quickly as they heard more sounds coming form outside. Ozpin looked back to everyone, "Quickly, to the Bridge of Khazâd-Dûm!"

* * *

 **(Cue the Lord of the Rings music!** **;)** **)**

Everyone grabbed their things and then sprinted out the door of the tomb. Little did Jaune know that when he grabbed his bag, the ring-box that held the ring he bought for Pyrrha fell out. He didn't even hear it hit the ground, due to the sound of inbound Goblins and whatever else they had with them.

Everyone ran together, trying to stay in Ozpin's light. Jaune and Boromir both formed light barriers to their swords to help light the way, but the city was so big, they could only see 30 ft. in front of them and still couldn't see the end of the city.

As they were running, Ruby looked back to see hoards of Goblins running past the tomb they were just in and running after them. Weiss looked up to see some of the Goblins crawling out of the cracks in the celling, almost like ants or cockroaches, _"Disgusting!"_

They kept running until they saw another hoard of Goblins run right at them. The Fellowship stopped and circled around with their weapons at the ready.

Jaune held his hand out to Pyrrha, she quickly grabbed tight as their fingers interlocked. Yang stood a bit more in front of Ruby as a means of protecting her. Blake and Weiss stood at the ready. Ren and Boromir's look of determination could almost make a bold man blink. Nora converted her hammer and growled, "COME ON! COME ON!"

The Goblins looked to be ready to slaughter them but then quaked in fear when a loud bellow echoed throughout the city of Dwarrowdelf. All the Goblins cried out in fear and ran away, some ran up the pillars while others ran down into the cracks in the ground below.

In her ignorance, Nora started laughing, thinking that they scared them off. Her laughter was stopped when Ren tapped her shoulder and pointed to the green glow emitting down the hall behind some of the pillars.

"Uh, Ozpin… What is that?" Jaune asked in complete confusion and a bit of fear.

Ozpin closed his eyes as he listened to the growl that echoed in the distance, "A Balrog…" His eyes opened, "It is a Grimm that is supposed to be extinct."

"The Demon-Class Grimm? I thought it was just a myth…" Boromir hissed.

Ozpin gripped tightly on his cane, "This beast is beyond any of you… RUN!"

Ozpin then ran toward the exit they were originally running towards. Everyone ran behind him but they were clueless as to why he was so scared.

* * *

They made it to the exit corridor, Boromir ran ahead to ensure there were no surprises, but then he found himself trying not to fall off the edge of a cliff. Blake and Ren ran up to him and pulled him back before he could fall off.

Ozpin leaned against a rock and appeared to be out of breath. Jaune walked up to him, "Ozpin…" He looked down to see that Ozpin was bleeding from a wound on his leg.

"You need to lead them to Menagerie, Blake knows the way from there." Ozpin said as he pressed down on his wound.

Jaune turned to the corridor and almost looked like he was going to face whatever was coming after them, but he was stopped when Ozpin pushed him against the wall. "Do as I say! You aren't strong enough to face something like this yet."

Jaune's eyes squinted, "Yet?"

Ozpin pointed behind Jaune, "The bridge is close, we need to hurry!"

The group then proceeded to go down an open stairwell that was right over a chasm below. As they were walking down some steps, they reached a gap in the stairs. Pyrrha jumped down first along with Ren. They turned to help the others jump down, that's when they heard a loud crash and growl come from behind them.

Ozpin turned to see a green fire blaze from the corridor they were just at, _"It's following us…"_

"Ozpin!" Pyrrha said over the loud crashing. Ozpin jumped down, and landed between them. Just then they heard an arrow land right next to Boromir's foot and snap. They all look up to see several Goblin archers in a sniper position.

Jaune drew his pistol, Pyrrha converted her rifle and Ren drew his pistols, they all started firing to give the others a chance to jump down.

Jaune got a bull's-eye on one of the goblins and Ren got a few good shots on three to the right.

Boromir, Weiss and Blake all jumped together, once they jumped off their half of the stairs, it collapsed. Nora, Yang, Ruby and Jaune had to back up in order not to fall. Jaune motioned for Yang to come up to the edge and then he pushed her off, with their combine strength she landed across with Pyrrha and Boromir catching her.

Jaune looked to Nora, "Your next." Jaune grabbed her shoulder, "Just a push, don't toss me!" Nora said as she put her weapon on her back.

Jaune pushed her hard enough for her to land on the opposite stairs, but she wasn't fully balanced. Ren quickly acted and grabbed onto the only thing he could, "AH, NOT THE SKIRT!" Nora shouted.

Ren pulled her up enough for him to grab her hands and pull her closer to him, just then the ground beneath their stairs began to collapse. Everyone backed up until they were safe, but now there was a big gap between Jaune, Ruby and the group.

Ruby looked to Jaune, "Now would be a good time for those wings of yours!"

Jaune rolled his eyes, "I don't know how to bring them out, okay?! We'll figure something out!"

They heard the Balrog crash against the wall behind them, causing parts of the ceiling to fall and hit the stairs behind Jaune and Ruby. They felt the section they were on start to give way; it started shifting left and right.

Jaune grabbed onto Ruby's shoulder as they were trying to balance themselves. Then Jaune had a quick idea, "Lean forward." He said as he held onto her arm tightly.

Ruby leaned forward and the stairs began to fall toward the group. "Get ready to jump!" Jaune shouted over the loud noises.

Their stairs collided with the groups, Jaune jumped into the arms of Ren while Ruby jumped into Yang's. They all got their balance back and then ran down the stares, just as the old one fell down to the chasm below.

They reached the bridge, Ozpin stopped right at the start of it and shouted for them to get across, "GO! GO!" Jaune stopped at Ozpin but was pushed to keep going, "Hurry!"

Ozpin turned around to find green fire burn behind him, and then he saw a flaming figure walk through the flames as if it was a river. It was the Balrog, it wasn't just breathing fire, its whole body was engulfed in it, as if it were hair.

The bridge was narrow, but they managed to run all the way across before the beast could overtake them. Ozpin stopped half way across the bridge and turned to face the Balrog. "YOU CANNOT PASS!"

Everyone stopped to see Ozpin standing between them and the Demon-Grimm. "OZPIN!" Ruby shouted.

The beast stood more upright and widened its wings, as more green fire erupted from its underbelly and brightened the whole cave.

"I am a member of the Order of Light, wielder of the Grey Diamond Dust shard." Ozpin stood his ground with no sign of fear or doubt in his eyes. His face and eyes began to change the same way they did when he expelled Salem from Dol Guldur: green skin and red eyes. " _Your darkness will not protect you, spawn of the Dark One!_ "

The Balrog formed a green flame around its hand and then turned it into a large fire sword. The beast swung the sword down on Ozpin, the sword shattered as it made contact with Ozpin's green barrier. " _AAAGH!_ "

Ozpin growled, " _Go back to the darkness!_ "

The Balrog made more fire and formed a new weapon form the flames, it appeared to be a whip. It swung the whip around and the struck it against the cave wall beside it, the clap of the whip almost sounded like a lightning strike, it even made the same flash as one.

Ozpin took his cane with both his hands and shouted, " _YOU SHALL NOT PAAASSS!_ " He then slammed the tip of his cane into the bridge, making a bright flash. To everyone else, it didn't look like anything happened, so when the Balrog took a step on the bridge they were all surprised to find half the bridge brake off from where Ozpin was standing. The beast fell, yelling out a loud screech as it plummeted into the void below.

Ozpin's face returned to normal as he let out a sigh of exhaustion. He turned around to face the others but felt something hot wrap around his leg and pull him off the edge. He quickly grabbed onto the edge of the bridge and held on tight.

Ruby tried to run to the bridge and help Ozpin but was grabbed by Yang. "No, no!"

"OZPIN!" Ruby shouted as she was trying to get Yang to let go.

Jaune was about to help Ozpin but saw that the remaining half of the bridge was about to give way. Ozpin looks at Jaune in the eye and speaks softly, "Lead them well…" he then let go of the edge and fell into the darkness below.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs.

Jaune was frozen solid, he was in complete shock, and he could barely hear Boromir shout his name. Pyrrha only broke him out of his shock, when she took his left hand and pulled him to follow her. He looked up to see arrows flying toward them and he knew that they couldn't stay there anymore.

* * *

Jaune followed Pyrrha, along with everyone else. He didn't even notice until they reached the surface that tears were dripping down his face. The sunlight was a welcome sight for them, but it didn't improve their mood over what just happened.

Once they were out in the open, everyone mourned in their own way: Ren held Nora back from going back into the mountain, she was crying and shouting that she could go in and find him but Ren wouldn't let her go. Pyrrha hugged Jaune tightly, she was doing it more for him than for her, first his father, then almost Pyrrha, now Ozpin. Jaune didn't know what to think, Ozpin's last words just kept repeating in his head like an echo. _"Lead them well…"_

Blake fell to her knees and put her hand over her mouth as she cried into it. Weiss sat beside her, with her hand on Blake's shoulder, she was crying too. Yang was on the opposite side of Blake, holding onto her with her arm over her shoulder; she had tears dripping down her face, but she wasn't crying out loud.

Jaune broke out of his trance of shock and started thinking like a solder. First he let go of Pyrrha and looked to Yang and Boromir, "Get them up."

"Jaune?!" Pyrrha asked in an almost angered tone.

"Give them a moment, for pity's sake!" Boromir said with anger.

Jaune looked to Boromir with a cold look in his eyes, "Sundown happens in an hour, and when that happens, this whole area will be swarming with Goblins! And with all our sadness, the Grimm will come in droves!"

Jaune looked back to Pyrrha, she didn't like it but he was right. She nodded back to him and walked over to Weiss and Blake. She and Yang helped the girls to their feet.

Jaune looked to Ruby, she was sitting on a rock, looking him right in the eye. The tears on her face were dripping like a waterfall. Jaune walked up to her to help her to stand but found himself to be hugged tightly by her. He could hear her muffled cries as she pressed her face into his armor. He hugged her back as more tears dripped down his eyes.

He let go and pulled her back to look her in the eye, "We need to keep moving… okay?"

Ruby tried to wipe the tears off her eyes as she nodded. Jaune then looked to the others, "We need to get to the coast and catch the next boat to Menagerie. From there, Ozpin said you would know the way, Blake."

Blake lifted her head; she sniffed hard and nodded, "Yeah. I do."

Everyone gathered their belongings and prepared to move out. Not before Jaune organized everyone who had guns, including Nora, and pointed them in the air.

"Fire." Jaune said.

All but Weiss fired three times, to honor the dead. Not just Ozpin, but Lady Sif and all the other defenders of Moria that succeeded in saving the remainder of the Valkyrie tribe.

Nora and Ren were the last ones to lay eyes on the mountainside. Ren put his hand on her shoulder, Nora simply said, "I'll find them… when this is over…"

And with that, the Fellowship lost a member, but was determined to continue with their mission.

* * *

 **AN: I'm not goanna lie, I almost cried when I wrote both Nora crying over her Grandmother's grave, and when everyone was mourning Ozpin.**

 **I will be posting a WoR and a Grimm Dossier about the Balrog on Deviant Art soon, check it out when you have a chance!**

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter it wasn't easy to write.**

 **As always, Arkos…**


	11. Welcome to Amazonia

**Welcome to Amazonia**

* * *

 **AN: Now it is time to shear with you all who "Her Grace" is.  
And before you ask, yes, she is THE Galadriel of the story, but that isn't her name in this story, nor is she an Elf. Her Grace is something different…**

 **Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and please tell me what you think.**

* * *

It didn't take long for the group to reach the coast of Sanus and reach the docks. They booked passage on a fiery to Menagerie. Luckily they didn't encounter any further resistance or spies following them as they were sailing to Menagerie.

As they were sailing, Jaune pulled up the holo-map of the continent to go over the plan on where they were going once they make port. "Blake, if you would please."

Blake nodded as she zoomed in on the forest area of Menagerie, "Once we land on the shore, we will hike past the mountain walls of Menagerie and travel the deer path threw the Bloodwood forest."

"Bloodwood FOREST!?" Boromir exclaimed with both shock and confusion, "That forest is a death trap. There are forms of Grimm in there that nobody has ever seen before."

Nora then spoke up, "Oh, I've heard of that place. Grimm that attack travelers there and leave no survivors."

"No survivors? Where do you think the stories come from?" Yang asked with a chuckle.

Blake then pointed her finger into the hologram and guided a line that lead into a large mountain range that spanned for miles.

"What do you intend to find there?" Boromir asked with confusion, "That dead zone is a meat grinder for anyone who so much as walk into the tree line."

"The high and mighty Star Knight of Atlas, reduced to a paranoid little child." Blake smirked; she then cleared her throat and then spoke, "You'll know once we get there." She then looked to Jaune who had his arms crossed, "Trust me."

Jaune looked at the map and then to Blake, "We'll follow your lead."

"ARC!" Boromir spat.

"If you don't like it Boromir, you are free to stay in port! Like Headmaster Elrond said, you are not subjected to go any further than you can." Jaune said with a very serious tone.

Boromir sat down and huffed with anger, they wouldn't hear another word come from him the rest of the night.

* * *

Once they reached the docks several soldiers from both Vacuo and Atlas militaries greeted them. Back before the Battle for Beacon, the White Fang attempted a coup in Menagerie. After that, and the White Fang's involvement in the Battle of the Five Armies, the leaders of the four kingdoms felt that the "watch" over Menagerie has been lacking.

As a result, every 6 months two kingdoms send garrisons to Menagerie to stand guard, and then switch with the other two when their months are up: Atlas and Vacuo have this half of the year.

The fellowship tried to keep a low profile, trying to be hidden, even from the friendly soldiers. They left the capital city and made their way to the forest. As they were leaving, Jaune could see some Atlas troopers scraping through a marketer's stand, tearing it apart, saying that it is a "random check" and then just walked away once they were done.

As they left the city, Jaune couldn't help but voice his opinion of what he just saw, "It's harsh crap like that are the reason they attacked in the first place."

Blake couldn't help but agree with Jaune, Yang felt the same way, "I know… It sucks."

"It's necessary. If I remember correctly, during the coup, half of Menagerie's police force were White Fang. And until this continent can protect itself, we have to." Boromir said with an arrogant but irritated tone.

"They didn't ask you for help, you just rolled in with your tanks." Blake spat at the knight.

Boromir rolled his eyes, "Why are you defending them? Didn't the Fang attack your kingdom and attempt to wipe you its people?"

Blake rolled her eyes and kept walking. Boromir looked to Ren as they were walking, "What's eating her?"

Ren looked to the knight, "When it comes to how the military acts towards Faunus, it tends to get on her nerves."

"Ah, one of those apologists, eh." Boromir asks with curiosity.

Ren wanted to tell the truth, but he felt that it was Blake's reveal to share, not his. "I don't think that's the proper way to put it."

It didn't take long for the Fellowship to reach the entrance of Bloodwood Forest. The entrance had a sign that said ' **Only Monsters Live Beyond These Woods** '

Ruby looked at the trees and saw that some had red coloring on their barks, "Why is it called 'Bloodwood Forest' again?"

Jaune answers with the rumors he's heard, "It's said that the Grimm that live here are so ruthless and brutal, they slash the bodies of their victims to the point the only method of identifying the victim is by blood work, off a tree bark."

"Oh…" Ruby said with fear and sadness.

Boromir drew his sword, "Stay close together, and report any movement once we are inside… I still think this was a mistake."

Jaune drew his sword and formed his shield, "Well you're free to leave at any time."

Boromir rolled his eyes as they entered the forest. Boromir had his eyes on the higher branches, hoping to catch any possible flying or climbing Grimm before they drop down on them.

Jaune gripped his sword and shield tight as they moved along the path. Pyrrha had Milo converted into it's rifle mode.

As they walked along the path, Ruby walked up to a tall tree that had a deep read on its lower bark. She even saw claw marks on the tree, brushing her fingers down the claws. As her fingers ran along the cuts, she then turned her head to look to everyone and then found a man with a rifle pointing at her head. She yelped in shock and fear as she fell flat on her butt.

Everyone else turned to see Ruby on the ground and then several soldiers dropped down from the trees and others from behind large rocks. They were all Faunus, some with horns, ears and tails sticking out of their camo-armor.

"What the hell?! FANG!" Boromir shouted as he formed his shield and readied for battle.

The tension was then cut down fast as they stared to hear a familiar voice laughing in the distance. Jaune and Boromir looked ahead of them to see a fellow Star Knight walk up to them.

"I swear, Numenor breathed so loudly, we could have shot him at night and hit our target!" John smith said as he was laughing his lungs out. All the other soldiers lowered their rifles and started to laugh along with their commander. Their camo-armor powered down to allow their true colors to show, Sky Knights of Vacuo.

"JOHN!" Jaune said as he sheathed his sword and shield and hugged his old friend, "It's been too long!"

"Good to see you too, Jaune!" John said as he hugged Jaune back.

"How an immature man, such as yourself, ever became a Star Knight is beyond me, Smith…" Boromir said as he sheathed his sword and crossed his arms.

"And I will never understand how someone so uptight and snobby became a Knight." John says with his arms crossed.

Yang disarmed her weapons and spoke between them, "Hey, you two can compare dicks some other time, alright?"

They both looked at her with cold glares, cold enough that she started to regret her joke. John started to smile as he then turns to Jaune, "Her Grace has been waiting for you. Come on, we'll lead you to her."

* * *

John led them into a cave, as they were walking though, Jaune and Ruby were talking to John. "So Bloodwood is a ruse?" Jaune asked.

John shrugged, "Well, not all of it. A lot of humans have died here, but not by Grimm. Faunus have guarded this area from any who try to sneak into the city for decades."

Ruby then asked, "So the red coloring on the trees and claw marks were man made?"

"From what I'm told the claw marks were faked and the red tree bark is really paint. If someone were to die out there, it would have been form an arrow or a sniper in the trees." John stated from his knowledge in guerrilla warfare.

"You said they were guarding a city, what city?" Boromir asked.

Just then they reached a large doorway that was 10 feet tall. John nodded off to the guards next to the door and they flipped the large switches to open the doors. "The city with three names, the first being Lothloria. Humans once called it El Dorado, but the Faunus today call it Amazonia."

The doors opened enough o reveal thousands of large trees that stood tall and had buildings running up their bark. The trees were gigantic and appeared to stand as tall as CCT towers.

"By the gods…" Boromir said with a gasp.

"El Dorado? You mean the city of gold?" Nora asked, as the sight mesmerized her.

Weiss looked around, "I don't see why it was called that. I don't see any gold, only trees."

John laughed, "I said the same thing, until someone told me to look up." He said as he pointed to the light above them and the large trees.

"Is that a sunroof?" Ruby asked as she put her hand over her eyes to block out the bright light.

"Nope, that's the ceiling. Thousands of Golden Dust shards." John said with a smile.

"Gold Dust is just a legend, my grandfather proved that!" Weiss said with disbelief.

John turned to Weiss, "Indeed. And if Nicholas Schnee says something isn't real, everyone else would believe him. He found the city and discovered them to be real a long time ago and made a promise to her grace to keep it a secret, even to his family."

Weiss nodded in understanding, "Knowing my father, if he knew about this, he wouldn't hesitate to strip mine this place…"

John then walked out ahead of them, "This way, her grace is waiting for us."

* * *

The Fellowship followed John up to the largest tree that stood taller and was the widest in diameter. They walked along several bridges that lead them to the large building that was built into the tree; there was even a large entrance that could rival Beacon's front gate.

Once they reach the gate, they were surprised to find a man-sized falcon fly overhead and chirp at them. The falcon landed in front of the gate and began to change form into a more humanoid form.

"Forgive me for being late, I had other matters today that needed tending to." The man said as she bowed his head to the Fellowship, "Greetings all, to Amazonia. Here, all are species are welcome."

"You're a skin changer, like Beorn!" Ruby said with excitement in her eyes.

The man smiled, "Ha, you know that old bear?"

"He helped us in the Battle of the Five Armies." Jaune said with a bit of a smile.

The man smiled, "Heh, he never could shy away form a fight. Oh, where are my manners," he bowed again, "I am Diaval, the 'Wings of the Queen.'" **(Like the Hand of the King in Game of Thrones)**

The gate behind him opened and out came several armed guards and the lady of the castle. She walked down the steps wearing a brown dress that matched the tree bark around her. She held a long staff that reached up to her nose, the top of the staff had a rainbow colored Dust jewel. The parts of her that stood out the most were the fact that she had tall horns unlike any animal they knew of, and wings not matching any known bird.

"Allow me to introduce do you, the Lady of Light, the queen of the Faunus, her grace, Maleficent." Diaval said as he stepped aside to reveal her.

All the members of the Fellowship knelt down to her, although both Weiss and Blake had to pull Ruby down. Maleficent walked up to them and spoke, " **Rise, my friends.** "

Everyone stood up and looked to the queen, Maleficent then looked to Blake with a sad look, " **Blake, my dear, you are among family here. Please remove your bow."**

Blake smiled to her queen as she unraveled her bow to reveal her ears, Boromir's eyes widened in shock, "She was a Faunus this whole time?"

"Is that a problem?" Weiss asked with a bit of anger in her tone.

Boromir looked to everyone else and saw that they all knew the truth but him. He knew that it would be best to drop the subject entirely. He then looked to the queen, "I wasn't aware the Faunus had a monarch. When did this come to be?"

Diaval answered for his queen, "Lady Maleficent has ruled as our queen for almost a century, as to why she has been kept a secret, given what you 9 saw in Menagerie on your way here, I'm sure you can understand why it is still a secret."

Almost everyone was surprised to hear Diaval say 'Almost a century,' Jaune couldn't help but ask, "A century? How could that be?"

Maleficent turned to knight with a smile, " **As you can see I am not like traditional Faunus. I am one of the last in a line of 'cosmic' beings. Although I have more Faunus traits in my blood, I have retained the ability of a long lifespan.** "

A soldier walked up to Diaval and whispered something to him and then walked away, Diaval then cleared his throat, "Forgive me, my lady, but I have unfortunate news. It would appear that the enemy already knows we are here, so you cannot stay long."

" **How unfortunate.** " Maleficent said with a bit of sadness in her tone. She then looked to the group, " **If I remember correctly, Headmaster Elrond told me that 10 would be coming, and yet 9 stand before us?** "

Diaval then noticed it too, "Yes, where is Ozpin? I was eager to speak with him."

Maleficent looked into Jaune's eyes as he turned away form her, and then she spoke what was in his thoughts, " **Ozpin has fallen… He has been taken by darkness.** " Jaune looked at her with pure shock, she read his mind as fast as he could think it.

"He was taken by a Balrog… in the pits of Moria." Pyrrha stated.

Maleficent looked to Nora who appeared to be the most saddened, " **Nothing is without purpose. What happened was not your fault, Lady Valkyrie, and I believe nobody else feels that it was either.** " Nora looked to her with her eyes dripping a few tears as she nodded in understanding.

Maleficent then looked to everyone else, " **Lately the world has started to see the signs of war, and first felt the taste of fear and doubt. Love has become blended with grief in the hearts of many that have suffered at the hands of Salem and her followers.** "

Maleficent then looked to Boromir, she could see the sadness in his eyes, it was almost as if he started to field sad just by looking at her. He had to look away or else succumb to sadness and almost sobbed in front of everyone.

"What will you do now, with Ozpin gone? What hope is there?" Diaval asks.

" **The Quest stands on the edge of a knife, make one wrong step and you will fail.** " Maleficent then looks to Yang as she says, " **But there is hope, so long as those who stand true hold their ground against the coming darkness.** "

Maleficent then gestured for them to enter her house, " **Do not let this sadness dim your strength. Go now and rest… for you are weary with sorrow and much turmoil. Tonight you will find peace before you continue your journey.** "

In that same instant, Ruby could hear a voice in her head, Maleficent's voice, **_"Welcome, Ruby Rose… The girl who has seen the EYE!"_**

* * *

The Fellowship was welcome to stay in a sort of 'guest quarters' that had a large room full of beds for all of them. Some of them changed cloths to that were a lot more comfortable sleep attire. As some of them were getting comfy and falling asleep, Jaune stood by an open window with Pyrrha in a chair behind him.

The nighttime in Amazonia was beautiful, the golden Dust Shards changed color to resemble moonlight, most likely from a full moon. The light was soft enough for people to sleep, but bright enough for people to see around htem.

"Quite a sight to behold…" Pyrrha says with a bit of awe in her tone.

"No kidding…" Jaune said with a bit of a smile. "I remember hearing the old tales of El Dorado, 'The City of Gold'. I'm sure Ozpin would love it here…" His tone got lower as he spoke of Ozpin.

Boromir was the only one of the group who this didn't like it all that much, "I still don't see how none of us even knew about this? Who knows how old this city is, and none of our kingdoms knew about it?"

"Given what we saw when we entered Menagerie, you still ask that question?" Yang spat at Boromir.

"What does that supposed to mean?" Boromir asked with an angry glare.

Yang stood up from her bed, "Lets look at the facts, shall we: after an attempted coup by a small group of White Fang, Atlas demanded for a 'military police force' to stand guard over Menagerie. What exactly do you think would happen if the kingdoms knew that there has been an entire kingdom of Faunus living beneath their noses?"

Boromir pouted, "Point taken…"

"I imagine they wouldn't take it too well."

Everyone turned to the door and saw Diaval standing there with his hands behind his back. "Forgive the intrusion, Lady Maleficent requests to see you, Commander Arc."

Jaune looked to Pyrrha with a half smile, "Off to see the queen."

As Jaune made his way to the door he heard Yang say to him, "Try not to make a fool of yourself." Jaune smirked and waved her off as he followed Diaval down the hall.

As Jaune was walking with Diaval, he spoke up, "So how long have you been working under Her Grace?"

"Since I was a boy." Diaval said with a bit of comfort in his tone, "I imagine seeing someone like her was quite an eye opener."

Jaune couldn't help but agree, "I'll admit, the wings were a first for me."

"If I had a Lien for every time I heard that one…" Diaval said with a chuckle.

* * *

Diaval lead Jaune to the ground level, where they found Maleficent standing inside a garden full of daises, roses, and all other forms of flowers. There she was standing by a platform with a silver mirror. She looked up at them on the stairwell with a smile, " **Thank you, Diaval. Please leave us.** "

Diaval bowed to her and then patted Jaune on the shoulder as he walked back up the stairs. Once they were alone, Maleficent took a large pitcher and dipped it into a small fountain of water that was behind her.

Jaune walked over to the mirror and saw the chrome bole with curiosity. "What is this?"

" **One of the few gifts my grandfather gave me before he left this world…** " Maleficent said as she walked up to the platform with the pitcher. She then pored water into the bole, " **This mirror can show many things: past, present… and future. And on some rare occasions, they see what happened in though the eyes of others.** "

Jaune looked at Maleficent with a cautious look, "And you want me to look into this?"

Maleficent stopped poring and then looked to Jaune with a more empathetic look, " **No. But it is something you have to see…** "

"Why?" Jaune asked.

She set the pitcher down on the platform and looked Jaune in the eye, " **It's been bothering you for almost two years… why can't you bring the wings out when you want. The only time they came out was in times of pure luck. And when you wanted them to come out the most, like in Moria, you couldn't.** "

Jaune's eyes widened, it was almost as if she had read into his mind. " **I can understand your frustration. I would if I didn't understand why either. But you can find the source of what is holding you back, by looking into that mirror and seeing why.** "

Jaune started to walk up to the platform and place his hands on the sides; before he looked down at the mirror he looked at her with a cautions look. He then took a deep breath and then looked down into the mirror. One minute he was looking down at the mirror the next he found himself walking though what looked like a field of wheat.

* * *

He found himself wearing his Star Knight armor and his head felt odd. His head started to feel like it was tearing in two! He screamed as he collapsed to the ground, he yelled for something, anything, to make the pain stop. And just like that, it was gone. He stood up and he was different, he was taller but thinner. His armor was gone, and he was instead wearing some kind of leather shirt with linen underneath.

" **Are you all right beloved?** "

Jaune turned and saw...Salem. Only she was different, the red of her eyes was dimmer, there were no black veins growing out from her eyes, her skin wasn't quite so pale, and her hair was down. She looked... almost human.

"I'm...I'm fine."

He nearly panicked, that wasn't his voice. It sounded familiar, but it didn't sound like his. He then looked around and saw he was lying next to a large creek. He knew this creek very well, his father had brought him here he had told him this was where the Arcs brought their loves since his family had ruled Vale. This was where his father had proposed to his mother.

" **Are you certain, Felix? You look pale…** " Salem asked while cupping his cheek with her hand.

It was then that it hit Jaune; he was in Felix's past. Looking at the world though his eyes. _"This must have been when he first fell for Salem… When he fell under her spell."_ He then looked down at his hand and saw the Arkenstone, as whole as it was when he first saw it.

" **What would you do if asked something of you, beloved?** " Salem asked with a more seductive tone.

Jaune felt like he was more of a 'passenger' than a 'driver' in this situation, everything that was happening around him was out of his control.

"Anything." He said with an enchanted tone.

" **Anything?** "

"I would burn cities for you if that's what you wanted, my love..."

Salem gave him another sweet smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Then she leaned down and kissed his body very passionately. Jaune wanted this to stop so he shut his eyes tight until what he didn't feel Salem on him anymore.

Jaune opened his eyes again to see that the scene had changed. He was sitting on a Vale's throne staring down at a blonde woman who was looking at him with horror, fear, betrayal, pity, hatred and heartbreak. He could feel a great feeling of rage and hate was welling up inside his chest, a lot like when he almost killed Ruby.

"Brother...What has she done to you?" The woman asked in horror.

"What she has done to me _'Dear Sister'_ " he mocked "is given me power, a power greater than yours is or ever will be. A power that will always be _mine_ , unlike the ones _you_ stole from me!"

"Stole?! Felix, I was born with this power! I've stolen nothing from you!"

"IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN MINE!" He roared leaping off his throne. "I AM THE ELDEST MALE ARC, I AM THE KING OF VALE! THE POWER OF THE STAR KNIGHT SHOULD BE MINE!" He marched down the steps to the throne and down to his sister, Joan. "But instead, it chose you, my Dear Little Sister. Perhaps it will see that it chose wrong after I rip the power out of your arrogant corpse!"

Joan backed away her eyes wide with fear. She could see what the stone was doing to him but nobody did a thing. Joan did what any Star Knight should do in this situation: expose him. "You're mad, you don't deserve to be a Star Knight, you don't even deserve to be a King! You're letting the gift she gave you corrupt your mind and tear our once great family to pieces!"

Felix backhanded slapped Joan hard enough that she actualy backed up, his eyes widened with anger as he shouted, "So _that's_ it! So you want my throne? Well, you will _never_ get it! **I FORBID YOU OR ANY OTHER MEMBERS OF YOUR BLOODLINE FROM EVER OBTAINING THE THRONE OF VALE!** " Felix's started to sound like Smaug's again, only this time it was coming from a human body.

Jaune couldn't watch this anymore, seeing his family's exile from the throne in person was too much for him to see. He shut his eyes, hoping the scene would change again, and it did.

Jaune opened his eyes this time he was sitting with his backed hunched against a wall with Grimm surrounding him. Above him, there was a man with a black cloak made out of shadows and had a blue buzz cut.

Kneeling before him, he saw Salem brushing her hand across his cheek. She looked as scary and corrupted as he remembered form his terrible visions thanks to the Arkenstone. She looked like she had just finished saying something, Jaune felt his mouth open and heard his father voice speak out of his mouth, "I would rather die...Than live forever as your puppet!"

Salem stood up she looked disappointed if anything else. she turned and walked away, as she did so she turned and said over her shoulder:

 **"That's too bad, I'll just have to make due with your son."**

Salem walked past the man in the cloak as he formed a pitchfork out of the shadows and drove it into his chest. Before the blade came down, Jaune heard a voice, his father voice, "Goodbye."

And just like that, every thing changed, he was wearing his armor again and he was surrounded by complete darkness suddenly he could hear Salem's voice echoing in the void.

 **"I see a great battle, many banners many flags"** the armor Jaune was wearing started to change, it turned from white into a mix of black and silver. " _No...Jaune!_ " whispered in horror as he stared at his armor. "All fighting each other. Thousands will perish."

The armor started to change, the shoulder guards sharpened into spikes, a cape grew from the back. " _Please, No..._ " Jaune whispered as his armor continued to change. " **Your 'Smaller Soul' will be extinguished, and in the end...** " A large sword formed in his hand. " _Please, God! NOOOO-_ " Jaune Scream was cut short as a helmet slammed down onto his head. Then he stood tall proud with his new terrifying armor **(AN: It's the armor similar to Sauron's from the prologue sequence)**

Jaune found himself standing proud and bloodthirsty. He was a Nazgul. _"No…"_

" **I will have a new Black Night to add to my collection.** " As he kneeled before his mistress along with his brother and sister Nazgul, Salem placed her hand on his shoulder and said, " **You have served me well my Lord of The Nazgul... my Witch King of Remnant.** "

 _"NOOOOOO!"_

* * *

Jaune was then pulled away from the platform so hard he almost fell on his back. Luckily for him, there was someone there to catch him. Jaune looked up to see Pyrrha holding him and helping him to stand upright.

"Are you ok?" Pyrrha asks with complete worry in her tone.

" **Here, sit down, you'll feel better in a minute.** " Maleficent said as she guided the disoriented Jaune to a bench next to the fountain.

Jaune took a few breaths and was given a cup of water by Maleficent. After taking a few sips he looks up at her and started piecing some things together, "What did any of that have to do with my powers? That was a nightmare!"

" **You saw what was keeping you from reaching your full potential,** " Maleficent said whit a stern tone. She could understand his anger and horror, but he was being disrespectful to a queen in her home.

"What did you see?" Pyrrha asked with confusion.

Jaune stood up and walked around as he talked, "I saw Smaug… Felix… The Mad King before and when he went crazy and exiled my family from the throne." Jaune said with anger, "I watched it as if I were him. And then I saw my father die, and then something I've never seen before…" Jaune then stood up and looked at Maleficent, "What was that last image I saw… Salem said I was a Nazgul, WHY?!"

" **You saw a possibility that is still open to you if you allow it to.** " Maleficent said with that same stern voice. " **For years you have allowed your self hatred for what you did under the influence of the Arkenstone. Your regret on the choices you made while under its influence, you let it haunt you to this day…** "

Pyrrha could understand what she was talking about; Jaune couldn't reach his full potential because his depression and anger from what he did in the past still held him back. "Jaune, you have to forgive yourself…"

Jaune turned away from them both, he didn't want to because he didn't think he deserved forgiveness for a long time. Out of nowhere something clicked for Jaune, "Her voice… And her face…" Jaune turned to Maleficent, "Why does Salem look and sound like you?"

Maleficent gave a look of her own shame. She walked over to the bench and sat down where Jaune sat before. " **Salem and I shared the same parents… a long time ago that used to mean more.** " She then looked to them both and continued, " **Salem is my twin sister."**

Jaune and Pyrrha stood there in complete shock and fear. They were standing with someone who was related to the Queen of the Grimm.

" **'The Children of Sauron', some would call us, 'One born of Light, the other of Darkness'.** " Maleficent said with a slight chuckle but a bit of sadness in her tone.

"You were the one of light, I would guess?" Pyrrha asked.

Maleficent nodded, " **For centuries we were family. But when our father passed beyond this world she changed.** "

Jaune looked at the way she was talking about her, there was more to this. Unless it was something simple. "This is what it's all about, isn't it? You and her. This war, the ring; she started all of this to get to you."

Maleficent smirked, " **You are just as smart as your father,** " She then takes a small glance at Pyrrha with a bit of a chuckle, " **And almost as clueless at times.** "

Pyrrha couldn't help but smile as Jaune blushed and turned his head. Maleficent looked at them both, she couldn't help but chuckle at them. Jaune looked back to her and gave a curios look, "What is it?"

" **I see a bond between you two. A bond as strong as the one my parents had.** " She looked to them both back and forth, she could see that they didn't think much of her words, " **Do not take this lightly… You two will need each other in the battles to come.** "

Jaune wanted to talk more about Salem, "So this whole war is about the two of you? Why?"

Maleficnet sighed, " **It is something called, 'The Great Game'.** "

"What's that?" Pyrrha asked with complete confusion.

Maleficent motioned for them to come to the mirror; there she used her rainbow jewel to project a 'hologram' like image out of the mirror. The images shown were in solid colors. **(She is showing her own "World of Remnant" to them)**

" **By now I am sure you two have heard the story of how the world came to be; two gods came to this world, one of light, _Valar_ , and the other of darkness, _Morgoth_ , they were brothers in arms. They in tern created humanity and the four relics.**"

" **Well, they may have been brothers, but there were times that they played a Great Game. A war. Every time they played the Light god won, but every time he won, he would not finish off his brother of Darkness. After centuries of fighting, there came a time where the Valar decided to expel the Morgoth from Remnant entirely. But before he could, Morgoth had already produced an heir to continue his work as he was gone.** "

" **That was when _Sauron_ was born. At the same time, Valar had a child of his own come into the world, a daughter named _Midori_. For years they crossed paths, but they never played the game. As a result, Remnant saw peace for over 5 thousand years, but at a cost; Salem and I ended up taking their place as the 'players' of either side of the board. And when both died of 'old age' we attained our places on the board, the rest, as they say, is history.** "

"Why didn't they play?" Jaune asked.

Maleficent ended the projection and gave a rather sad look on her face, " **Sauron was the one who didn't want to play. He chose a different path.** "

"Sauron? The Prince of Darkness, the one who helped create the Grimm, chose a path that ended in peace?" Jaune asked with complete denial.

Maleficent then gave him a look that would make even Weiss sweat bullets, " **Sauron had a choice, either fight Midori, or marry her. He chose the latter.** "

Jaune lowered his head, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to offend you." Sauron wasn't just a monster in Remnant's history; he was her father.

Maleficent relaxed her face, " **No, it is something I have made peace with a long time ago…"**

Pyrrha could read the atmosphere, now would be a good time to change the subject. "So after seeing what caused his power to be locked, can he now use my wings?"

Maleficent shook her head; she then looked to Jaune, " **No. Your anger and self-doubt still lock it away… But even if you remove them tomorrow, you can't simply think them to appear.** "

"Then how does he get them out?" Pyrrha asks.

Maleficent walks over to the mirror and waves her hand over it, then the mirror started to show the times Jaune had his wings out in combat, " **There were times, in battle, that you were able to set aside your shame and bring them out. Tell me, Jaune, what were you thinking of when they came out?** " She and Pyrrha looked to him after she asked the question.

Jaune thought hard, "I was… Well, at the Spire I needed more power to beat Cinder."

" **That may have been what you were thinking initially, but that's why you didn't get them at the beginning of the battle. But something changed in your mind, what was it?** " Maleficent asked with a more serious tone.

Jaune thought deeper, "I… wanted to protect the others. I knew that if Cinder had beaten me, she would have gone after everyone else."

" **And it was in that moment that you weren't thinking of dying in that battle, you were thinking of fighting for your fiends.** "

"What does that have to do with it?" Jaune asked with a clueless look.

" **Everything!** " Maleficent said with a bit of a loud tone. " **Just like at Weathertop, you weren't thinking of yourself, you were thinking about your friend's safety.** "

"How does that bring out the wings?" Pyrrha asks.

" **The wings only come out for a noble cause. Not for power's sake, not for envy, not for wrath,** " Maleficent stated. " **They only come out when someone wants to use them for a just cause. What is more just than wanting to protect those you love?** "

Jaune looked to Pyrrha, for a minute there he could have sworn he saw a proud smile on her lips. Jaune then turned back to the Queen, "So… I have to want to protect people in order to get the wings out?"

" **Not ' _want_ '… ' _need'_. The need for protecting others is a more noble cause than wanting to die in a glories battle.** " Maleficent said as she showed some of the past Zeniths of the forgotten history, " **Isildur may have failed in the end, but he cared deeply for his family and home, and the Ring turned that against him.** "

Maleficent then lifted the bole off the platform and pored the water into the grass, " **If you two would be so kind, please ask Ms. Rose to come down and see me. There is something she needs to see as much as you did.** "

Jaune and Pyrrha bowed her just before they reached the stairs, but before they could start up the stairs they heard her ask something of them, " **Also, I would deeply appreciate if you keep my family heritage to yourselves for the time being.** "

* * *

On their way up, Jaune and Pyrrha talked and agreed to keep Maleficent's heritage with Salem to themselves. If the others find out, especially Boromir, things could go wrong in the city.

Jaune and Pyrrha entered the room, while Jaune walked over to Ruby, Pyrrha sat on her bed. "Her grace would like to speak with you now," Jaune said in a formal tone for the fun of it.

Ruby didn't look like she was all that overjoyed to go see her, so Jaune tried to ease her, "She just wants to talk… and show you something that may be helpful to you."

Ruby nodded in understanding. She stood up from her bed and walked down the hallway to meet her. _"Hopefully she won't do that 'spooky mind reading thing'."_

Jaune wanted to see the view from the window again; he quickly found that he wasn't alone in admiring the view. Boromir walked up to him and leaned against the wall adjacent to Jaune, "You should get some rest, Arc. You'll need it."

"You should too." Jaune said.

"I can't… I… I heard her voice inside my head." Boromir said with an uneasy voice. Jaune looked to him in confusion, he knew that she could read minds but speak into them is something new to him.

"She spoke of my father and the fall of Atlas… And despite that she said, 'Even now there is hope left'." Boromir said with his voice mixing of both anxiety and anger, "But I can't see it."

Jaune rested his hand on Boromir's shoulder, "The hope is with us, Boromir. We are here now to ensure that all our kingdoms remain safe from Salem and her minions…" Jaune then gripped his shoulder tighter, "Our chances of succeeding are higher than most would believe."

"How is that?" Boromir asked, sounding unconvinced.

"Because there are two Star Knights in this fellowship, instead of one." Jaune said with a smirk. He quickly saw a smile creep up Boromir's face too.

* * *

Ruby walked down the steps to find Maleficent tending to the garden by poring water from the vase over the flowerbeds. She looked behind her to find Ruby standing there; she quickly bowed down but was stopped when Maleficent held her hand out, " **You don't have to do that, Ms. Rose. We are friends here.** "

Maleficent gestured her to come over to the platform with the mirror, "Will you look into the mirror?"

"What will I see?" Ruby asked with caution in her tone.

" **Only what you must… Your Star Knight friend looked into it not too long ago.** " Maleficent said. " **He found it to be very… informative. I believe you could benefit from it as well.** " She pored the water into the mirror, and took a few steps back as Ruby looked into it.

Ruby saw a swampy area; there she saw a green, frog-like creature crawling in the mud. Its eyes were blue and it kept muttering the same words, " _Precious_ " and " _Rose_ ".

"What is that?" Ruby said as she backed away from the mirror.

" **It's Gollum.** " Maleficent said with a calm tone.

"Gollum? He escaped the prisons of Barad Dur?" Ruby asked with shock.

" **Escaped? Or set lose?** " Maleficent said with an ominous tone. " **He will always be drawn to it, never be rid of his need for it. He hates and loves the Ring, as he hates and loves himself. Sméagol's life is a sad story…** "

Ruby looked to Maleficent in confusion. Her grace elaborated, " **Sméagol was his name before the Ring took his mind. He was a Frog-Faunus, once.** "

"It's a pity my mother didn't kill him when she had the chance." Ruby said as she looked at the gross monster.

" **Pity? It was pity that stopped your mother from finishing him.** " Maleficent said, almost as if she saw the whole thing. Ruby at her in confusion at first but started to understand her wisdom as she spoke, " **There are many who live that deserve death, and there are plenty of those who have died that deserve life, Ruby. Don't be too eager to deal out death and judgment on a whim. Even the smartest people of this world can't see all ends. There are many parts to play in this war, and I believe that Sméagol will have one someday; whether it will be good or evil, we will soon find out.** "

Ruby looked down again at the mirror, thinking she would see Golem again, but this time it was different. This time she saw Patch; she saw her house and her family there.

Everything was peaceful. Then things started to change, a shadow covered over the land, Grimm started attacking some of the villages on the island. Beacon Academy was on fire; Grimm and other monsters that almost looked human were attacking the city of Vale.

As Ruby watched she looked in horror at everyone she knew, everyone she loved, being taken as prisoners. She could see the soldiers that were above them, some of them were Faunus that carried the brand of the White Fang. Others were more of those humanoid monsters. She then saw Patch barren and dead, the grass was burned and all the trees were gone.

Then out of nowhere Ruby saw the Eye of Sauron, and in the center of the 'pupil' she saw Salem standing there. She held her hand out to Ruby from the mirror, just as Ruby's necklace came out form under her shirt and revealed the ring above the mirror.

Just then Ruby felt a hand pull her away from the platform. She looked up and saw Maleficent standing there with a very blank face. She then looked down at Ruby's chest and directly at the ring, " **I would keep that hidden, if I were you.** "

Ruby backed away from the platform and sat down on a bench that was behind her. **_"I know what you saw… I've seen it in the mirror before…"_** Maleficent said with a very serious tone.

What happened next gave Ruby a chill down her spine, she heard Maleficent talk in her mind again, **_"It is what will happen if you fail… The Fellowship is falling apart, it's already happening. He will try to take the Ring. You know whom I am referring to… But it won't end with him; one by one, it will take them all."_**

 _"If you ask it of me…"_ Ruby said in her mind, _"I will give it to you…"_ Ruby pulled the ring off her neck and held it out to her.

" **Just like that? You offer it to me without hesitation?** " Maleficent asks with shock in her voice. She slowly walked over to Ruby with her right hand held out to the ring, " **I would be lying if I said that I did not desire such power… Instead of a Shadow Maiden you would have a _QUEEN_ …**"

She held her hands out and wide with her wings fully open, a light shined from her back and outward, creating a shadow over her face as her eyes glowed bright enough to aluminate her face. " ** _NOT DARK BUT BEAUTIFUL AND TERRIBLE AS THE DAWN! TREACHEROUS AS THE SEA! STRONGER THAN THE FOUNDATIONS OF REMNANT! ALL WILL LOVE ME AND DISPAIR!_** "

As quickly as it came, her light and darkness disappeared entirely and she reverted back to her normal self, as far as normal concerns her. Ruby closed her hand over the ring tightly as she backed away from Maleficent.

" **I'm sorry…** " She said as her legs began to quake and she fell to her knees. She looked up to see that Ruby was terrified of her. " **You must understand… Sauron created that Ring of power to grant the user _ABSOLUTE_ power over life and death… and it corrupts even the most humble of beings. He divided it into two halves for a reason.** "

"Two halves?" Ruby asks in confusion.

Maleficent then held up her left hand, " **This is Nenya, The Ring of Light. This was the Ring my father gave to me, the other half was given to Salem… My sister.** "

Ruby's eyes widened, "S-sister?" But as she realized how different she was compared to Salem, she quickly relaxed, "I imagine that… you two are polar opposites?"

" **Indeed** ," Maleficent said with a smile. Ruby walked over to her and helped her to stand, but Maleficent saw sadness fill Ruby's eyes as she stood up.

"I wish the Ring had never come to me… I wish that none of this happened at all…" Ruby said with bitterness in her voice, she sounded like she was about to cry.

Maleficent rested her hand on Ruby's shoulder, " **So do all who live to see such times, but that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given to us.** " Maleficent held her other hand out and called her staff to her, once it landed in her hand she placed the rainbow jewel into the mirror again and projected something new. " **There are other forces at work in the world aside those that are evil.** " This time she projected Summer Rose and her team, " **Your mother was meant to find the Ring…** "

Ruby's eyes started to tear up as she saw her mother in the projection. It had been so long since she's seen her face. The images then changed to Ruby's days in Beacon, her time with her friends, the Company forming for the first time at Patch and then ended with her finding the Ring in the jewelry box, " **You were also meant to find it, and that shouldn't be taken as a discouraging thought.** " Maleficent said as she looked to Ruby with a proud smile.

Ruby smiled back at her and gave her hug that Maleficent almost didn't expect. She quickly returned the hug in kind.

As they let go, Ruby backed away from Maleficent, "I know what I have to do… In order to fulfill this mission… But I'm afraid to do it."

Maleficent looked Ruby in the eye, **"Even the smallest soul can change the course of the future. You did it once before, I have hope that you can do it again."**

Although Ruby did not fully understand what she meant, she felt thankful that she said it.

* * *

Meanwhile in the once beautiful academy of Haven, Saruman and Locus were in the Headmaster's office.

"Do you know how the first Orcs came to be?" Saruman asks Locus.

"No." Locus asked with no idea.

"They were Faunus once. They were corrupted, mutilated and tortured into the beasts we see today. Beasts almost worse than Grimm, because they see carnage as sport." Saruman says with disgust in his tone. "But now we have something _better_."

Saruman was walking over to his desk and opened a cabinet. There he pulled out a bottle of booze and two glasses. "You know what this is?"

Locus shrugged his shoulders, "No clue."

"Mistral Whisky, almost a century old." Saruman said as he opened the bottle, smelled the cork and then pored it into the two glasses, "I only drink this for special occasions."

"What is it this time?" Locus asked as he walked over to the desk.

"The success of breeding the 'perfect solder'." Saruman said as he handed Locus the glass, "Before I turned over the Relic of Knowledge to Salem, I asked it a few questions, one of them on how to make the beast soldier."

"What did it say?" Locus asked with a skeptical tone.

Saruman whistled and his first Uruk, Alpha, walked in. Saruman picked up his glass and walked around it as he explained, "It didn't tell me in so many words, but it did give me a list of 'ingredients': While Faunus are superior to the average human when it comes to their sensory perception, humans have a stronger body build by far. The Faunus blood allows them to have that enhanced perception and intelligence. The Grimm tar provides the body with flesh and enhanced muscles, also giving the bones more strength. And the chemicals Dr. Watts was able to produce from Dr. Merlot's lab is just more icing on the cake."

Saruman walked back up to Locus and they tapped their glasses together with pride and drank the whisky, Locus smirked, "Incredible… You said they have intelligence? How much?"

"They can think enough for themselves to have a 'chain of command'. Meaning if any leaders were to die, they can still fight with someone else leading." Saruman then pointed to Locus' wrist, "But you'll find that they will follow your orders, so long as you wear that control band you made."

"Good." Locus said as he walked over to the Uruk, he then turned to Saruman, "Can they talk?"

Saruman smiled as he walked up to Alpha and spoke to it, "Whom do you serve, Alpha?"

Alpha growled as it spoke, "Saruman…"

* * *

Morning came fast for the Fellowship, they all woke up and packed quickly for their trip. Most of the crew gathered their things and took it down to the docks while everyone else was still packing.

As Jaune was looking though his things, he saw that his backpack had a hole in one of the zipper pockets. He peaked his fingers into the hole and felt that the ring box was empty. "Shit!"

Pyrrha, Nora, Ren and Blake all looked to Jaune and saw that he was upset. Pyrrha spoke up first, "You ok?"

Jaune looked to Pyrrha with a slightly panicked look, "Yeah I'm fine." He then looked to the others and then back to her, "Hey, could you go ask how much the boat can carry so I know how much food and ammo we can bring with us. I'll be down in a minute to help with the sorting."

Pyrrha gave a bit of a confused, "Ok…" Pyrrha walked out of the room and headed to the docks.

Jaune then clenched his fists and kicked his bed so hard it almost flipped, "I lost it. I lost the ring!"

"I thought Ruby had the Ring?" Nora asked with a bit of confusion.

"No not that ring, my ring. The one I was going to give to Pyrrha." Jaune said with frustration.

Nora was about to explode with joy but was stopped when Ren grabbed her and put his hand over her mouth, "Nora, no. This has to be a secret!"

Nora calmed down enough for Ren to let her go and not have any outbursts; Blake couldn't help but chuckle at her reaction. She'd be lying if she weren't as surprised and excited.

Ren walked up to him and rested his hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure if you get another, she will love it."

"I know… I bout that one to match her colors…" Jaune said in a sad tone.

It didn't take long for them to cheer Jaune up enough to get him down at the docks for their send off. But before they could sail, Lady Maleficent herself saw to it to see them off.

The group was given several bags of bullets and food rations. Jaune pulled out one of the bags of food and found a strip of flat bread, "What's this?"

Blake looked at the bread with her eyes widened with shock, "Lembas bread! It's bread that was baked using enchanted water." She walked over to Jaune, picked off a piece of it and ate it, "Just a small bite from that bread can fill the stomach for a day."

After hearing this, Ren looked to Nora with a half smile, "How many have you eaten already?"

Nora looked to him. "About 6 slices…" She then belched quietly.

The workers were kind enough to pack everything into the boat as Lady Maleficent gave each of the group gifts to help their journey. As she personally handed each of the Fellowship their gifts, she described their capabilities.

Maleficent looked to Ren first, " **Lie Ren, I give you the ' Incense of Serenity'. They will give you, and all those who breathe the fumes, peace of mind.**" Ren took the large tube of incense and bowed his head with deep respect.

Next was Blake, " **Ms. Belladonna, I give you the ' Blade of Asclepius'. It is a blade that has seen battle in the past, and its fate is now intertwined with yours.**" Maleficent handed her a short leaf dagger with a black blade, the blade had a snake engraved on one side. Blake took the blade, bowed her head, sheathed it and placed it behind her waist. Maleficent then held out a necklace from under cloak to her, the necklace had the head of a black cat with a white pearl on it's forehead. " **Your mother asked me to give you this before you left, it brought her luck in the past, may it give you the same.** "

Next came Yang, " **I have enchanted rope, made from the vines of these trees, and were grown with enchanted waters.** "

As she handed Yang the rope, Yang looked at the rope and then back to Maleficent, "Don't suppose you have any more of those special daggers?" Maleficent smiled as she moved on.

Maleficent walked up to Boromir next, she handed off a belt with a silver and blue belt buckle. " **For you, Boromir Numenor, I have the Stärke Belt.** " As he held the belt, Maleficent could see the turmoil in his face, she rested a hand on his shoulder as a means to ease his fears. " **I can understand your frustration and fear, Sir Numenor, but you must find strength beyond the physical. You must find strength for those you fight for. Remember that always.** "

Next was Weiss, " **Ms. Schnee, I have for you a silver dust shard.** " Maleficent could see the excitement and surprise glow in her eyes, " **As I am sure you know the legend behind it, but you must be carful, it takes its toll on the user if used too long.** " Despite her joy over the shard, Weiss still felt scared about their mission overall, " **Do not worry, Ms. Schnee, your courage will return soon enough.** "

Instead of walking up to one of them, Maleficent walked up to both Jaune and Pyrrha. " **I have nothing grater to give, than the gift you to share… but perhaps I can strengthen it.** " She handed them both two bracelets; one was white with a black stone on the top and the other was black with a white stone. " **These are the Bands of Pisces. So long as you two wear these bands, one will find the other, anywhere.** " She looked at them both with a smile, " **You two have a bond that I haven't seen since my parents… I pray that your future will be a bright one.** "

Before moving on, Maleficent looked to Jaune one last time, " **There is a choice yet before you, Jaune. To rise above the height of all your fathers since the days of the First Four Stars… Or to fall into darkness as the world around us diminishes.**"

 **(AN: The _First Four Stars_ she is referring to are the first Star Knights.)**

Maleficent walked up to Nora next, " **I'm sorry to say, Ms. Valkyrie, but I could not think of anything to give you that you may need. Is there anything that you would want?** "

Nora looked to her with a bit of a nervous smile, "Nothing that would be too much for you to give… Well, there is something… but it's stupid, you don't have to…"

Lastly, Maleficent walked up to Ruby and held out a leather pouch, Ruby held it in her hand and felt a clean cut crystal, " **Ms. Rose, I give you a shard of our kingdom's light. This Dust Shard will shine a path though any darkness you may come across.** "

Everyone bowed their heads to Maleficent as they finished loading their stuff onto the boat, meanwhile Jaune, Boromir and John Smith were conversing over what the Fellowship was going to do next.

"This boat is fast enough to take you to the coast in a day and a half. Once at the coast I recommend you sail along it until you reach the statue of Leonidas, form there you should have a safe route thought Mistral." John said with a more or less hopeful tone.

"What will you be up to in the meantime?" Jaune asked.

"Until her grace says otherwise, my place is here." John said as he took both their shoulders and held htem in to speak quietly, "There's something else, I didn't want Ruby to hear it."

"What is it?" Boromir asked.

"The Grimm are becoming more organized in Mistral, packs on patrol and heavy beasts attacking coastal villages. And I have received word that Saruman is making some kind of monster mutant cocktail that are more dangerous than Grimm." John says with a bit of worry in his tone, he could see his friends were starting to get nervous as well, "Whatever Saruman is cooking up in Haven, I wouldn't put it past him if he sends a few dozen your direction once you make landfall."

"Thanks John. We'll keep an eye out for htem." Jaune said as he patted him on the shoulder.

"Good luck you two, we're all counting on you." John said as he walked off the dock.

Jaune and Boromir then walked onto the boat and made ready to set sail. They untied the boat's lines to the dock and started the engine. Everyone waved off to the crowd that said goodbye. As Blake was tying her bow over her ears, she gave her queen one last wave before they entered the tunnel that lead to the coast of Menagerie.

* * *

Their boat had been sailing for no more than two hours, Nora was holding the gift Maleficent gave her and was marveling over it. "Form this point on, I will never call anything a better gift than the one she gave me…"

"What did she end up giving you Nora?" Yang asked curiously.

"I asked her for two of her feathers from her wings. I wanted to place them on my helmet's wings to make it more unique. She gave me four feathers…" Nora said as she held out her helmet to reveal the new line of feathers on both sides. "From now on, _this_ will be the Valkyrie Family's heirloom."

Ren smiled as he patted Nora on the head with love. Nora smiled as she placed it on to show everyone.

* * *

 **AN: The credit for Jaune's Mirror vision goes to Flash600**

 **Basic ingredients to an Uruk Hai:** **The skeleton of Humans + blood of Faunus + Grimm tar + and the chemicals that Dr. Merlot created = A BIG problem!**

 **I am sorry it took so long, but now that School is starting for me, it will be a bit longer until my next one. I'm sorry, but School has to come first weather I like it or not.**

 **Anyway, I hope you all like this chapter, and as always ARKOS!**


	12. The Breaking of the Fellowship

**The Breaking of the Fellowship**

* * *

 **AN: I'm back, and school is not kind.**

 **Luckily I have found time to write this chapter in between classes, when I'm not studying.**

 **Anyway, on to the next chapter!**

* * *

The sea between Anima and Menagerie was vast, nothing but pure Blue Ocean as far as the eye can see. High between the clouds flew a small Nevermore flew, its head turned repeatedly, as if it was looking for something.

As the Nevermore flew, its eyes caught something in the water, a little speck. It flew in closer and saw it to be a boat. It flew close enough to the point that its eyes could see the occupants onboard; it was the Fellowship.

* * *

At the same time in Haven Academy, Saruman had his hand on the Palantir with his eyes closed. Just then he removed his hand and turned to Locus with a grin, "I found them."

* * *

Beneath Haven Academy, in the tomb of Isengard, Saruman ordered a lot of Uruk Hai to be armed. Alpha was one of the ones chosen for this 'hunt.'

As the Uruks were lining up, some of them had different physical characteristics that matched most Grimm. Like Alpha, some had long snouts, clawed fingers and dog like feet, like Beowulves. Some had tusks on their mouths and had hooves for feet, like Boarbatsuks. There were a few that dome heads and spine spikes, like Creeps.

Goblin workers had been working weeks, day and night, forging armor plates, chainmail and weapons for these monsters. They slapped the armor plates on the Uruks, mostly on the parts of their body that don't already have natural Grimm armor. They were then given weapons from simple melee to Dust types.

Broadswords and shields weren't the only weapons they were giving them. Some of htem were given m16s with bayonet knife attachments. Locus had managed to "procure" them form old Atlas and Vale vaults that were long forgotten by their generals. There were a few Uruks that were given staffs with dust crystals at the top of them; the types were that of fire, water or wind.

Locus walked Saruman thought the line up of Uruks, as they were walking, Locus labeled the three types of Uruk soldiers that he categorized. "The ones with blades and hammers are called 'Marauders', those with rifles are 'Marksman', and those that use Dust are 'Warlocks.'"

"Good choice in names." Saruman says with a smirk. Locus nodded a 'thank you'.

Saruman and Locus then walked up to a high balcony to look over the small hoard of Uruk Hai. "You will go with Locus to hunt down a small group of humans and a Faunus. You will hunt them down and kill them. You do not know fear. You do not know pain. YOU WILL TASTE MAN FLESH!"

The Uruks howled and cheered at Saruman's words. Some of them even clashed their weapons together as if they were cymbals.

Saruman then turned to Locus and Alpha and showed them an old picture of Team RWBY. "As far as I know, one of these four girls has the Ring. Bring them all here, alive and unharmed." Alpha bowed his head and Locus nodded, "Kill the others."

As Alpha left them, Saruman stopped Locus before they walked down to the hoard, "Before you go, I have something that will give you more of an edge in this hunt."

Saruman then held out his hand for Locus to catch a black bullet. "What is it?" Locus asked as he held it up and looked closer, "It's not metal…"

"It's obsidian." Saruman says, "Another question I asked the Knowledge Relic if there was a way to bypass Star Knight aura without having to break it down… Obsidian is a rare material that has deep magical properties… older than most of the world."

Locus looked at it and recognized the bullet to be a similar shape that he uses for his sniper rifle. Locus looks down to see a full magazine of sniper bullets, a full clip for his glock pistol and a small knife. He pulled open the knife and saw that the blade was completely made of Obsidian. "And this will cut though Star Knight Aura?"

"Like it was never there." Saruman says with a slight joyful tone.

"Good." Locus smirks as he sheathes the blade and straps it to his belt. "When I get back, I have a few ideas on how to repay Atlas for all that it has done to me. But for now, I'll settle for killing their Star Knight."

From overhead, the once beautiful school looked like a wasteland, from the inside of the school grounds to about a mile outside the walls. It was a truly depressing sight.

Locus and some of the Uruks climbed into trucks that were being driven by Locus' mercenaries. Overall, there were at least 50 warriors that were apart of this hunt, Uruks and Mercenaries alike. They rode out of the dirt path of Haven Academy. As Locus was following the coordinates that lead to the Fellowship's possible landing area, Locus drove with the intent to kill, along with everyone else in his platoon of monsters.

* * *

Like John Smith said before, the Fellowship's ferry made landfall of Anima within two days.

As they were sailing, Jaune was looking over the details of "Project Marauder" and the file it had on Locus. Looking at the psych-profile was not helpful because it was whipped, almost as if someone erased it before it was given to him. Jaune knew it wasn't Ironwood; it was most likely Locus' doing.

As Jaune read more into the file, he saw some details about Locus' mechanical enhancements. Evidently he had his arms from the shoulder down replaced with military-grade prosthetics, along with his legs form the knees down.

His armor was another story entirely. The suit could strengthen his body and provide life support if necessary. Most of the suit was made of intense plate metal that could rival Mithril, and the back was set up to have thrusters powerful enough for him to fly short distances if needed.

Jaune noticed something in the 'faulty systems' of Locus' body. One most notable was his left shoulder. The joint on it appeared to have a gap that exposed some of the nerve connections to his arm. If they were cut, he'd lose control of the arm entirely.

 _"_ _What ever he was meant for… was not worth his humanity. I can only hope that a Star Knight could hold up against such a design."_ Jaune thought to himself as he closed the file. He didn't bother showing it to Boromir, because he already knew about the whole thing. At the end of the file, Jaune saw Boromir's family sigil as a 'stamp of approval' for this procedure.

* * *

The day came when the boat made landfall, Jaune had the group land and set up camp on the beach, this way everyone could regain their land legs after being at sea for the past two days.

One the second night of their camping on the shore, Jaune and Boromir spotted something in the water. It looked like a small log was floating ashore and dragged up the beach. Then they saw something crawl up the beach and into the forest nearby.

Jaune recognized the creature, "Gollum." Jaune and Boromir had to speak softly as everyone else was getting some well-needed sleep.

"I didn't think he could survive going across the ocean." Boromir said with a raised eyebrow.

"I don't think he followed us to Menagerie… he probably swam here from Vale. Corrupted Faunus or not, he is determined to get the Ring back." Jaune said with a bit of admiration for Gollum's persistence.

Boromir could just barely see his green eyes hiding in the bushes in the distance, "If he keeps following us, Grimm will follow his hostile intent like a beacon…"

"On the bright side, they'll be after him more than they'll be after us." Jaune said with a slight hope for the best.

Ruby could hear them both as she tucked herself into her sleeping bag, but she couldn't find any sleep this night. Not with the thought of that green creature watching htem from afar.

Yang lied next to Ruby, "You ok?"

Ruby looked up, "Not really. I'm still trying to get over the sea-lag." She lied. She didn't want her sister to worry about her too much. The ring alone is enough stress on everyone's minds.

"I know this is all starting to take its toll on you, but I want you to know I'm always here for you." Yang said, as she looked her sister in the eye. Ruby didn't look back; she just had her eyes looking down at the bag, as if she was trying to hide something.

"I wish that were true…" Ruby then rolled over to the other side, "Get some sleep."

Back with the two knights, Boromir walked up to Jaune, as he was sharpening his sword. Boromir looked at him with a determined look. "We need to get to Minas Tirith. It's safer, it's quicker and at the very least we can get an army to back us on the way to Mordor."

"There is no backing of any army that can help us on this quest, Boromir." Jaune said as he continued to sharpen his blade with a wet stone. "Least of all, Atlas."

"You were quick enough to accept the help from the Faunus. Why would you deny help from _your own species_?!" Boromir hissed in the darkness. "Have you so little faith in our people? Yes there is frailty and bitterness in men, but there is strength and courage also."

Jaune stopped sharpening and tried to turn away. Boromir grabbed his shoulder and gripped tightly, "You are afraid, aren't you?! You have been burying your head into the sand hoping to forget what you were, and so you deny what you could be for our people!" Boromir gripped tighter using his semblance; he almost made a dent in Jaune's armor.

Jaune kneed Boromir in the gut to both quiet him and get him to let go. As he was breathing in heavily, Jaune lowered his head to Boromir's ear, "I will not let that ring go within a hundred miles of any Kingdom's capital again. Least of all the kingdom that was the poster-child for abuse of power and cruelty." As Jaune rose up, he ended the conversation with one last statement, "I don't want to hear this topic again. If I do, then you'll find the outcome less pleasing than this one."

Ruby almost didn't recognize either of them in that conversation, as she laid in her sleeping bag. It was like someone replaced Jaune with a steadfast solder. She couldn't tell if that was either Jaune maturing as a leader… or it was the Ring's influence on him.

Boromir caught his breath back and looked at Jaune with an angry glare, " _If you will not do what is demanded of you as a Star Knight of your kingdom, then_ **I** _will._ "

It was Ren and Weiss' turn for night watch duty. Jaune passed by them and said good night to them before walking over to Pyrrha.

As Jaune walked over to Pyrrha, she was laying in her large sleeping bag, big enough for two. She looked up at him and saw that he looked frustrated. "What's wrong?"

Jaune removed his boots and climbed into the bag, "Ah, Boromir suggested to go to Atlas for help. Despite us telling him 'no' before."

As Jaune was fully in the bag, Pyrrha rolled onto him and put her arm over his belly and rested her head on his chest, listening to his steady breath and heartbeat. "Well, he isn't entirely wrong…"

"You think we should go to Atlas for help?" Jaune asked with confusion.

"No, but I'm sure Carol could help us by sparing a few of her men. Strength in numbers always helps." Pyrrha says with a more optimistic voice.

Jaune sighs, "Our mission is to maintain secrecy, not a full military operation."

Jaune didn't hear Pyrrha respond, he looks down to see that she is sound asleep already. He couldn't help but smile at her sleeping face. Even when asleep, she was still beautiful.

As Jaune started to fall into sleep, he started to feel his mind drift away from his body. Much like his mirror vision.

* * *

Before he had time to think, Jaune wasn't in Mistral, instead he was in an ashy field, surrounded by soldiers, Grimm and Orcs.

He then heard a familiar voice speak out through the smoke and carnage of battle. "Isildur, HURRY!"

Jaune looked to see his grandmother standing above Isildur Numenor. In his hands was the Ring of Power. _"It's not like before. I'm not here as someone, I'm a witness."_

"Follow me!" Joan said as she led Isildur up the volcano of Mt. Doom.

Jaune followed as best he could; the old tales of Mordor proved to be true to Jaune at this point. Toxic fumes surrounded him, scorched lands as far as the eye could see and the air began to get hotter as he climbed up the mountain.

Jaune followed them both right into the entrance of Mt Doom, said to be the location where Salem received the Ring form her Father, centuries ago.

Joan walked furthest form the large platform over the fire, motioning Isildur to follow. As they reached the middle of the platform, Isildur stopped dead in his tracks, staring intensely at the Ring.

Jaune walked up to Isildur and walked around to get a good look at his face. He was looking into the ring with great intent. _"It's already corrupting him…"_

"Cast it into the fire!" Joan shouted over the loud explosions of the volcano. Isildur didn't say or do anything, just stare at the ring.

"DESTROY IT!" Joan shouted with anger and confusion in her tone.

Isildur looked to her, "No…" he said as he turned towards the exit to the mountain.

Joan ran at him and grabbed onto the shoulder that held the Ring, hoping to take it right out of his hand and throw it over the side. But before she could pull on him, he pulled his shoulder out from her grasp and turned.

Joan didn't notice until he was already turned towards her, but when he turned, he also drew her sword from its sheath and was now pointing it at her in a 'plow' position. Joan only had her shield to work with, if this was going to escalate into a fight.

Joan stood at the ready, to fight if need be, "Don't do this, brother… you are our Zenith. You are the only one that can stop all this before the darkness can plant any more roots in our world… Destroy it, NOW!"

Isildur only looked at her with a dark glare, "The Ring is **_mine_** now…" He then threw her sword into the ground, "If you make another attempt like this again, consider our alliance and union today forfeit. Now go home, I never want to see you again." He finished as he turned away from her for the last time.

"ISILDUR!" Joan shouted over the explosions in anger and sadness. Joan fell to her knees in both defeat and grief. She couldn't go after him now, if she did she would risk shattering the dream, the dream that both she and Themistocles fought so hard for, and Themistocles brother, Leonidas, sacrificed his life for: a truly United Remnant.

Jaune wanted to go after Isildur, almost forgetting that this wasn't real. Everything started to fade to black in an instant.

* * *

Jaune jolted up out of his sleeping bag to look around and see everyone awake and preparing for the continuation. Pyrrha looked down to Jaune, "You okay?"

"Yeah… Just a… bad dream." Jaune said as he climbed out of the sleeping bag. Pyrrha helped him to stand.

"I had a bad dream too." Nora said with a sad tone.

"Was it about the talking pancake again?" Ren asked with a slight grin.

"Actually, this time it was waffles." Nora said with a bit of a sad look, "My stomach was hurting when I ate it."

Boromir rolled his eyes to Nora's description of her dream. _"To think someone of her strength and power has the mind of a child…"_

As they boarded the ferry again, they continued their journey along the coast. Little did they know that there was another group chasing them on the other side of the forest.

* * *

Locus ran the Uruks along the trees to hide them, and was pleasantly surprised at how well they could keep up with him. Normaly he was the fastest runner because of the prosthetic implants in his legs; but with this new breed of monsters, they matched his speed almost perfectly. His men had to use vehicles outside of the tree line just to keep up.

* * *

On the ferry, both Jaune and Boromir felt a hint of darkness trailing them along the coast. As far as they can guess, they are just Grimm hunting. They had no clue what was coming for them. Ren felt it as well. It was the same feeling he got when the Grimm was hunting him after the Nuckelavee destroyed his home.

Their worries were cut short when they came across a beach that had two large statues standing side by side. "Marathon…" Pyrrha said with a bit of a smile, "The statues here are of King Leonidas and his brother, Themistocles, the Star Knight of Mistral."

"The Spartan Knight… I've heard of him." Boromir said with a bit of awe as he looked up at the statues. "It's said that he lead the counter attack on Salem's fleet during the Great War… He was the one who broke the blockade."

"And the other knights arrived in time to help bring an end to the war." Jaune finished. He looked to see both Boromir and Weiss look at him with a bit of surprise in their eyes, "What? I know my history…"

* * *

The tanks on the boat started to run low. Jaune knew that they had to stop anyway so that the others could get their land legs back, but they are down to their last tank of fuel. Ruby and Weiss walked up to Jaune, he sighed in frustration, "We only have enough for about a hundred miles up the coast. Which would get us to northern mountains of Anima, after that, we'd have to walk to the nearest port that has a boat capable of getting us to the 'Dragon-shaped continent'."

"We might be able to cut some of that time if we buy an airship… No?" Weiss asked.

"Well…" Jaune pulled up a holo-map of Anima, and zoomed in on their current location, "If we move thought the forest here and go straight for Himawari, they should have an airship we can buy off them."

Ruby and Jaune looked to Weiss, to which she groaned, "Fine… _I'll_ pay."

All three would then join the others on the beach as they set up a campfire. "We're leaving the boats here, moving inland and make for the village of Himawari. From there we'll buy an airship and fly to the next continent. After that, it's a walk to Mordor."

"I still don't see why we can't just fly all the way there." Blake said with a bit of irritation. "I mean, if we have the airship, why not do a fly-by and drop the ring over the volcano?"

"Salem would expect that. Rourke would probably have all the skies of Mordor surrounded by swarms of Nevermores and other flying Grimm." Jaune stated, he had thought of all of this before, and he was faced with the same difficulties that he is stating now. "And even worse, the airships of Mistral, or any airship for that matter, can't handle a flight though thick ash. The engines would burn out almost instantly, and we'd never even get close."

Nora raised her hand, "I'd like to go with option B."

Ren was watching the forest the whole time; he felt something dark and powerful coming their way as he began to grow restless. He quickly turned to Jaune and walked up to him, "We need to leave this place."

"We can't. Grimm packs run though these forests, we have to wait until dark before we cross." Jaune said as he was setting his bag down on a rock.

"I feel something coming… and I am _sure_ it isn't a Grimm pack." Ren said with more than caution in his tone, more like worry.

Nora opened a bag of bread and was about to share with Ruby but couldn't see her in the camp, "Where's Ruby?"

Jaune looked around for her, as did everyone else. Jaune's search stopped the moment he saw that Boromir was gone; evident by the fact that his weapons and bag were missing from the pile.

* * *

Ruby was taking a stroll in the forest, trying to get her mind off the sad thoughts that had been hanging over her head since they left Amazonia. She found herself near some old ruins and broken statue pieces. Most likely from some of the forgotten kingdom of old that fell to the Grimm.

"None of us should wander alone." Ruby turned quickly to see who spoke to her, to her shock it was Boromir, collecting firewood.

"You least of all. You are the important one, eh?" Boromir said with a slight grin; he looked at the way she stared at him; it made his grin go away. "What is it?"

She wouldn't answer, she tried to turn her head away but she didn't want him to be out of her sight. Boromir took it as shame or shyness, "I understand why you want to be alone… You're suffering from your own pain and shame; I see it on you day by day. You don't have to let that suffering consume you, Ruby."

"I know what you're trying to say, Boromir." Ruby said as she tried to continue walking.

"We're all scared, Ruby." Boromir said as he followed. "But to let that fear force us to destroy what could possibly be the last hope for our world would be equivalent to madness."

"It has to be done, Boromir. There is no way around it for ANY of us!" Ruby said as she started to walk faster though the forest.

Boromir dropped the wood and moved fast enough to catch up to Ruby and grab her left arm and turn her towards him, "I only ask that you help me gain the strength to _save_ my people!"

He wasn't squeezing her arm to hurt, but this did make Ruby uncomfortable, "Let me go." She shook her arm and he released his grip.

"Why do you treat me as if I was a thief? I am your friend!" Boromir said in anger and frustration.

"You aren't yourself." Ruby said with a serious glare.

"If you think you would be better off without me you are wrong… They will find you and take the Ring…" Boromir's eyes started to show a glare of red; Ruby saw this before, on Jaune when he held the Arkenstone. Boromir didn't even touch the Ring and it was already corrupting him this far.

"When they catch you, they will do so many things to you that you will be BEGGING for death before the end!" Boromir said with anger.

Ruby walked away, back towards the camp in the hope that one of the others would stop him or talk him back to his senses. She could hear him ranting behind her as he followed.

"That ring doesn't belong to you. It could have been mine. It should be mine! GIVE IT TO ME!" He grabbed her by her hood and pulled her back hard. Ruby tried to break his grip but he grabbed her by the shoulder and tried to pull her.

Then they both lost their footing on the hill and rolled on top of each other with Boromir over Ruby. He was grabbing at her, trying to get the ring from her, "GIVE IT TO ME, YOU SELFISH BITCH!"

Ruby kept kicking him off but he proved to be too heavy for her to get him off completely. She managed to get the ring out from under her shirt, just as Boromir was attempting to grab it off her neck. Ruby quickly put her finger through the ring and disappeared in front of Boromir.

With nothing to see, he didn't have a chance to block Ruby's boot from hitting him in the crotch and then kicking him in the face to get him off. He rolled over groaning as he saw the leaves get stepped on and pushed by the now invisible girl.

Boromir quickly tried to stand, holding one hand over his sore area between his legs, "Damn it…" He hissed. He then started to rant like a lunatic, "You traitor! YOU WILL TAKE THE RING TO SALEM! You betrayed us all! GODS DAMN YOU, YOU SELFISH BITCH! DAMN YOU!"

The last rant was interrupted when he fell over and hit his head against the tree he was standing next to. In that instant, his mind was knocked out of the darkness. Boromir looked around and started to feel regret and fear hit him all at once. "Ruby…"

His voice cracked as he spoke, "Ruby… What have I done?" He kept looking around as he shouted, "RUBY I'M SORRY! RUBY!"

* * *

Ruby ran, she didn't know where, she just ran. Being in the shadow world she couldn't tell where she was going. She ran to one of the nearby ruins she passed before, hoping to find a landmark that could lead her back to the group. She walked up some stairs, hoping to see the camp, but instead she saw something else in the distance.

In the distance she saw the Eye of Sauron again, and in the center of the iris, she saw HER. Ruby backed up and tried to remove the Ring. Once she did she ended up falling off the top level of the ruin and flat on her back.

She groaned to the pain and looked around to see that she was back in the real world. She heard footsteps nearby and turned to see Jaune standing there, "Ruby, you ok?"

"It has him… It took Boromir." Ruby said with fear and worry.

"Do you still have it?" Jaune asked as he walked towards her.

Ruby took this as him wanting to take it now so she sprung up to her feet and drew her scythe, "STAY AWAY!"

"Ruby?" Jaune said as he stopped just short of the scythes' blade. "I _promised_ you I'd keep you safe… no please, lower the scythe…"

She didn't lower the weapon, "Could you keep me safe from yourself?"

Jaune felt a bit of pain from that, but it was an accurate question. One that he asked him self before this mission started.

Ruby could see the sadness in his eyes, so she knew that he was still himself. She lowered her weapon, collapsed it into its holster mode and placed it on her belt. She then held out the Ring to him, "Could you destroy it? I mean… you broke free from the Arkenstone, you could do it again."

Jaune slowly walked up to Ruby, looking at the Ring the whole time. As he drew closer his hand reached out to it, and when he did he heard Salem's voice all out his name from it. Jaune closed his hand into a fist, he took a deep breath and then used both of his hands to close Ruby's.

"I would have gone with you all the way to the mountain of fire… I would have died to get you there if I had to…" Jaune was on the brink of tears.

Ruby was too, as she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, one that he returned in kind. "I know." She said into his ear. They held together for a few seconds until they both let go. "I know you can take care of the others… But keep Yang with you too. She wont' understand."

Jaune nodded in understanding. He then gave Ruby one more hug and they let go. Just then, Jaune heard a noise, it almost sounded like a snarl from an animal. "Go Ruby."

They both then heard the howling of animals, but they didn't sound like any they've ever heard. Ruby looked nervously at Jaune, she didn't want to leave him to deal with them alone, but he kept telling her to go. "Get going… NOW!"

Ruby sprinted into the forest, leaving Jaune behind to fight for her escape. While Jaune stood there, drawing his sword and shield and turned to see a pack of monsters that almost looked human. "Well, _this_ is new."

* * *

 **AN: I know this one is short and I'm sorry, but I was overdue for a chapter to share with you guys.**

 **The next chapter will be the conclusion of the Fellowship Arc, see you then!**


	13. Soldiers to the End

**Soldiers to the End**

* * *

 **AN: The title says it all.  
Enjoy.**

* * *

Jaune had his sword and shield drawn against an enemy he has never seen before. Some had melee weapons, others had guns, and a few had weird staffs that had dust crystals at the end of them, "Well, _this_ is new."

Just then one of the creatures with a sword came at him and swung hard, Jaune barely had enough time to duck under the blade. He swung his sword across its chest, but it barely scratched its armor. "Oh, great." He then noticed, like any armor plating, there were gaps below the shoulder and at the neck. Jaune blocked the creatures second swing with his shield and stabbed though the armpit, straight though the body, and then kicked it off his sword.

He then heard several of them shoot their guns at him, protecting himself from the bullets with his aura and his shield. As he turned around he saw them run right for him, they were going to try and swarm around him, _"Okay, time to move."_

Jaune quickly ran toward the ruin that Ruby was hiding on not too long ago, and lead the beasts up there to fight on a higher standpoint. As he ran up the stairs he blocked several swings form axes and swords, once at the top he stabbed his sword into the ground and drew his pistol. Using his magnetic glove, the gun flew from the holster to his hand quickly. He fired several armor piercing shots at the hoard as they were charging up the stairs. Some shots made it though the armor and hit others behind the first, but not enough for Jaune to feel comfortable up there. He unloaded his whole magazine and was forced to run away from them again at the top of the stone building.

* * *

"RUBY!" Yang shouted as she was searching though the forest for her sister. Then she started to hear familiar gunshots. _"Jaune…"_

It was then that she realized that they were in under attack, which only motivated her to find her sister even more.

* * *

As Jaune was fighting the Uruks, Locus and his Shadow Troopers arrived in their armored trucks. They dismounted and looked on to see the small hoard of Uruks doing what they were bred to do, swarm and attack. They were like ants running into the forest by the dozens.

Locus held his left arm up to his face, much like how Cinder did during the Battle of the Five Armies, "All units, spread out and search for the members of RWBY. I want them alive and unharmed. _KILL_ the others, but leave the Knights to me."

* * *

Jaune looked down at the hoard as they continued into the forest, running the same direction Ruby ran when he sent her away.

"YOU'RE FIGHTING ME!" Jaune shouted as he jumped off the building and shield-body slammed down on a couple Uruks. He quickly turned around to see an Uruk with a gun pointing its rifle at his head but was quickly struck by a spear straight though the chest, knocking it to the ground.

Jaune turned around to see Pyrrha, Nora and Ren charge out of the forest and join the fight.

Pyrrha used her polarity to pull her javelin out of the Uruks chest, back into her hand. She helped Jaune to his feet; she gave him a wink, which he returned and then they both continued to fight.

Ren moved quickly and slashed at the Uruks behind the knees or stabbing them by the base of their necks. An Uruk with a dust staff fired several ice shards at him; he dodged them and fired a few shots form his guns. The Uruk blocked the shots with a thin ice wall, which was then quickly blasted by Nora's hammer. It sent a shockwave of ice and pink dust at both the "Warlock" and some of the other Uruks.

* * *

Ruby ran as fast as she could. She could hear the sound of gunfire and metal clashing behind her.

As she was running, she was tackled by an Uruk and was grabbed by the back of the neck. It then forced her to the ground; she reached for her Crescent Rose but felt the beast step on her hand. Just then she heard several slashing sounds and then a gunshot, the beast fell off of her.

Ruby quickly sprung up to her feet to see both Blake and Weiss sanding there with their weapons drawn.

"You okay?" Weiss asked with worry.

Ruby nodded, "The others will need your help."

"Aren't you coming too?" Blake asked in confusion.

Weiss could see the look in Ruby's eyes. She was scared and sad, not because there was a fight, because she was leaving. "You're leaving, aren't you?"

"I have to." Ruby tried not to cry again. Now wasn't a good time to start.

Weiss didn't hesitate as she walked up to Ruby and hugged her tightly. Once she let go she gripped her shoulder, "Then get going."

Ruby looked to Blake and saw the same look that was on Weiss' face. They all then heard the Uruks up the hill, and they weren't alone; local Grimm packs joined appeared to be among the horde. Mostly Beowolves and Creeps.

"Go, Ruby. We got this!" Blake said as she drew her sword form it's sheath and held both in her hands. Weiss switched her dust revolver to a 'wind dust' crystal and blasted some of the Grimm back up the hill to buy Ruby time.

Ruby ran as fast as she could, dripping a few tears off her face as she was forced to leave her friends behind to fight for their lives.

"How long do you think we can hold them?!" Blake asked as she cut down two Beowolves.

"As long as we have to!" Weiss said as she stabbed an Uruk in the neck and used a fire dust to roast it inside it's own armor.

After dispatching two more Grimm and an Uruk, Blake grabs Weiss' arm, "We have to keep moving; don't let them surround us!"

* * *

Jaune tried to lead JNPR back into the forest but Uruks and Grimm kept catching them up.

As they were running, Jaune sheathed his blade but kept his shield open as he was reloading his pistol. Pyrrha covered him by standing on his right side and shielding him from oncoming fire. Once he finished reloading, both he and Pyrrha unloaded their guns on the Uruks in front of them; Jaune using armor-piercing rounds and aiming for the head, while Pyrrha aimed for their chests. That quick burst of bullets killed 17 Uruks and Grimm in less than 5 seconds.

Nora swung her hammer at any that got too close for comfort. She quickly converted her hammer into the grenade launcher and blasted several Uruks that were attacking from the rear. Although unintentionally, Nora's grenades blasted tree's truck, knocking it over and crashing down on some Grimm and stalled some of the others up the hill. Ren moved faster than any of the Uruks could react as he slashed behind their knees, forcing them to the ground and fall behind. He moved too fast for them to hear coming before they felt their legs give out on them.

* * *

Blake and Weiss ran down hill as fast as they could without tripping or tumbling down. As they were running, they reached a more leveled area and tried to make for the edge of the forest, but then they saw more Grimm coming at them from in front. They stopped in their tracks; they were cornered.

They prepared for a fight of their lives as the monsters surrounded them. Just then they heard several small explosions, and turned to see Boromir blasting his way though the small hoard to them. He was using a sub machine gun, which he was enhancing with his aura like Jaune normally did, and was blasting some of the Grimm and Uruks off their feet. He extended his disk shield from his left guard and blocked some of the gunfire that was meant for the girls. "Keep moving!"

Blake and Weiss followed him as he tried to lead them out of the 'kill box' they were in.

Blake swung her swords fast and hard as she decapitated several Beowolves and Uruks in a quick and swift spin.

Weiss switched her dust to the Silver Dust Maleficent gave her and launched a small ball at the charging hoard. The ball hit an Uruk in the chest and then expanded into a big sphere that engulfed six others and froze them in place. "Time Freeze bubbles, NICE!" Weiss said as she ran after the others.

* * *

Yang searched desperately for anyone, until she ended up stumbling into a small Uruk pack. There were several Grimm with them. "I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!" She shouted as she blasted them to pieces, one at a time.

 **(Hell hath no fury like a protective older sister.)**

* * *

Meanwhile, JNPR was cutting down the last of the horde that was in their immediate area. They took this moment as a chance to catch their breath. Then they heard several explosions in the air, they sounded similar to the explosive bullets Jaune usually fires. Then they all saw a red flair fly up above the trees and explode, it came from the south. Jaune knew who it was form, "Boromir."

Everyone then ran as fast as they could toward the gunfire. Jaune didn't know whether or not Boromir was himself again, but if the others were there he had to take the risk.

* * *

Boromir used the bladed edge of the top of his SMG to slash at any Uruks that got too close. While their armor proved to be as strong as steel, they also proved to be immune to the pain of a gunshot.

He quickly loaded a second magazine of flair bullets and fired three round bursts into the air, hoping someone else from the Fellowship could come to help. "I'm running low on flares!" Boromir said as he converted his gun back into its sword form and stabbed an Uruk in the neck as it charged at him.

"They'll come, I know it. Just keep going!" Weiss said as she unleashed a small barrage of ice shards at a group of Uruks that tried to flank them.

They did their best to move and fight as much as they could, but for every Uruk they killed a Grimm arrived to take their place. On the higher hills behind them, Locus and his Shadow Troopers could see the group fighting. Alpha walked up to Locus with his head lowered, "Should we engage them, Sir?"

"I'll have my men hit them with tranq-bullets. Once their down take them straight to Saruman. Finding the other two will take more skill, so I'll deal with it." Locus said as he reached over his shoulder for his sniper rifle.

"And the Knight?" Alpha asked.

Locus loaded his rifle with a four round magazine containing obsidian bullets. "I'll deal with him."

Locus looked into his scope, aimed for Boromir's left shoulder and squeezed the trigger until the rifle fired. The bullet flew across the downslope, past a few Uruks and Grimm and hit its intended target.

Boromir was swinging at an Uruk right when he heard the gunshot, then the next thing he knew a bullet was in his shoulder. The pain form the bullet surprised him. He knew he had enough aura to block bullets without thinking about it, how did this one make it thought.

Blake and Weiss were stunned to see Boromir actually wounded after one shot. They almost didn't notice some Uruks coming at them. They broke out of their shock and continued to fight, trying to cover Boromir from behind.

Boromir ignored the pain and shield punched a Beowulf that tried to come at him from the side. He continued to fight with just as much strength.

Locus lowered his rifle and smirked under his helmet, "Stubborn as always…" he walked a few feet down the hill and lined his rifle up for another shot.

As Boromir was fighting, his eye caught a light glare from up the hill. Once his vision focused enough, he recognized the armor to be Locus himself. Then he heard a gunshot and then he was hit to the right side of his gut. Boromir was sure this time; the bullet passed though the barrier as if it wasn't even there.

Weiss and Blake saw Boromir kneel to the pain. Blake ran to Boromir, trying to help him to stand again. To the corner of his eye he saw another Uruk come at her from behind, so he switched his sword into a SMG and fired at the coming Uruk. "KEEP FIGHTING!"

Weiss looked in horror as the man was on the verge of death, fighting to protect them with every breath. Tears were welling in her eyes as she fought.

Locus put his rifle over his shoulder and started to run down the hill, straight for Boromir.

Blake saw him coming and put herself between Locus and Boromir. She fired her gun until it was out of bullets and Locus was still coming, showing no signs of slowing down. It wasn't until he was right on her that he stopped and jabbed at her to move. She did but was then shot in the neck by some kind of dart. She instantly felt weak and hit the ground unconscious.

"BLAKE!" Weiss shouted as she tried to move towards her fallen teammate, but then the same kind of dart hit her in the arm, causing her to fall flat on her face into the leaves.

Boromir stood back up and swung his sword in a defensive posture at Locus as he moved between them. Locus smiled under his helmet and drew two short swords, "I'm going to enjoy this."

Boromir came at him first, swinging diagonally left and then back swung right, hoping to catch him off guard. But Locus proved to be faster than the swings and dodged both.

Locus then moved in to slash at Boromir's left shoulder but was blocked by the shield. Boromir then swung his shield arm to hit Locus in the face with it; this quick move stunned him enough for Boromir to throw another swing. This time he hit Locus on his left thigh, Boromir's aura was strong enough to allow his sword to cut though the armor plating and hit his thigh.

Locus grunted and backed off, he then saw that Boromir was getting weaker. "Take him!" he said to the mercenaries around him.

Two troopers moved into strike at him, one with an axe, and another with a katana. Boromir felt the gift belt Maleficent gave him, the **Stärke Belt** , began to glow. Just then he swung his blade at the samurai and cut the katana in half before decapitating the man behind it. The belt gave him the strength to swing his sword and cut though that metal just as easily without his aura enhancements.

With the other dead, the axe user swung at Boromir, he dodge and swung across the man's body, cutting him in half. With him dead, Boromir set his sights on Blake and Weiss, who were in the arms of Uruks not too far from him. As he made his way, other Uruks intercepted him.

Without orders, four Uruks moved in to try their luck on the wounded knight: two with large swords, one with a rifle, and the last with a staff with Dust shards on it.

Boromir's strength proved to surpass them as he blocked their blades with ease, hitting one in the face with a shield and sending it flying to a tree. The Marksman tried to shoot him with a barrage of bullets; Boromir lifted his sword up as the bullets hit his shield. Using his aura, he enhanced his feet and began to run at the beast with his shield up. And then swung his sword at the rifle, cutting it in half and then decapitating the marksman where it stood.

Then he blocked several fire dust blasts from the Warlock. Without thinking, he threw his shield at its head to disorient it as he ran at it. Once dazed, it tried to block Boromir's downward swing of his sword. The sword cut though the staff and sliced the Uruk right down the middle.

Just as Boromir was about to turn to Uruks that held Weiss and Blake, he felt two bullets hit him in the legs. He fell to his knees paining hard, he turned to see who shot him and saw Locus there with his rifle out. "I think I've had enough of the show."

Locus walked up to Boromir, he kneed him in the face, causing Boromir to fall on his back and drop his weapons.

Locus motioned for his men to lift him up, while he turned to Alpha, "Take them. I'll find the other two."

Alpha nodded and then howled for the other Uruks to collect the girls and leave. As they were picking up the girls, Weiss started to wake up somewhat to see Boromir at the mercy of Shadow troopers and Locus. She wanted to call out to Boromir but she had no strength to speak.

* * *

Jaune was carving a path though the forest that was drenched in black blood form Uruks and Grimm. He was determined to get to the others; he made a promise. As he was fighting he couldn't help but think, " _If you only come out when I have a need to protect my friends, now would be a GOOD TIME!"_

Before he knew it, he saw a yellow glow emit from behind him. "Jaune?" He heard Pyrrha ask from behind. Once he learned that he wasn't the only one who noticed, he started to smile.

* * *

The Shadow troopers lifted Boromir to his knees and set him in front of Locus. Boromir looked up to see Locus kneel down to his level. "Lt. Ortez…"

"I'm not your lieutenant anymore. I'm not Atlas' puppet either, my strings have been cut." Locus said as he opened his helmet to reveal his face. "And I enjoy my newfound freedom."

"Oh yes, you traded one master for another. Tell me, is Salem really an improvement?" Boromir asks.

"She's a means to an end. And I'm no slave this time, I volunteered." Locus said with an agitated tone.

"You volunteered for us too." Boromir spat, to which Locus grabbed at his neck.

"You manipulated me, mutilated me, and tried to destroy me. When you tried to forget me, you replaced me with some android with orange hair…" Locus then let Boromir go and drew a knife that was made of obsidian. "But we're not here to talk about the past, Commander…"

Locus then held the knife up to Boromir's neck and brushed it across his bearded, "Tell me which of those four girls in RWBY have the Ring, and I promise to make your life end quickly."

"Is that supposed to be your idea of mercy?" Boromir asked with the blade over his throat.

"It's more than even YOU deserve… and yes, it is mercy. Are you going to tell me?" Locus asked. He looked into Boromir's eyes and saw that he was dazed, falling in and out of consciousness. Locus removed the blade and slapped Boromir lightly on the face, "Hey, you listening to me?"

 **WAAAM**

In that split second of asking the question, Locus was gone in a flash of yellow light.

"I was." Boromir said with a smirk.

* * *

Locus was being pushed though the brush of the trees by something behind him. He kept getting hit until they were above the trees and was let go, falling back to the ground. Locus activated his jet pack to stop falling and looked up to see the one who rammed him.

"Jaune Arc, I presume?" Locus asked.

Jaune was above Locus with his wings flapping enough to keep him hovering. "You're a lot younger than I thought you'd be." Locus smirked as his helmet closed, he hit his boosters and charged at Jaune.

Jaune squinted and charged with his shield. The two clashed in midair, flying so fast one could only see two glowing objects clashing; one red (Locus' jetpack) the other yellow (Jaune's wings). After about the third clash, Jaune tried using his long sword against him but proved to be just as ineffective to break Locus' blades.

Pyrrha was down below, taking out the mercenaries that had Boromir in their arms. They were quick to dispatch, once she was done she moved Boromir to a tree and sat him down. Boromir looked to her and then up to the sky, "He may need you... Help him."

"You're wounded." Pyrrha said as she ripped a piece of fabric off her hip and put it over the wound. Boromir put his hand in place of hers, "I got this, go help him." Pyrrha looked at him and saw a look of worry, "Locus is stronger than Jaune thinks, he needs you..."

After firsthand experience of how tough Locus was, she knew he was right. She backed away from Boromir and looked up at the sky to see the fight, "How am I supposed to help down here?"

* * *

After the tenth clash they collided and held each other in a blade lock, Locus' swords vs. Jaune's long sword. When they broke the lock and swung at each other, Locus backed up and then tackled Jaune and aimed them towards the ground as he gunned it.

Jaune barely had time to adjust his wings and make them just hit the ground at an angle instead of straight down. Jaune and Locus tumbled back to where they started; Jaune could hear the rest of his team attacking the Mercenaries and Uruk Hai as he kept his full focus on Locus.

Jaune and Locus then proceeded to have a dual in sword play, Jaune proving to have an impenetrable stance while Locus proved too fast to get any strikes in.

Locus then moved in to try to disarm Jaune by blocking the sword with one sword and slash at his hands with the other, just as Jaune let go Locus was hit in the face with Jaune's glowing fist in an uppercut. _"Thanks for the boxing pointers, Yang."_

Locus' helmet cracked but wasn't too broken. Locus then sheathed his blades and pulled out his rifle and aim for Jaune. Jaune moved as he fired, but the bullet hit him in the left thigh as he tried to dodge. "AAH!"

Jaune fell to the ground, gripping at his leg. Locus smiled but then looked down to see that his rifle was now empty. Jaune then got back up on his strong leg, was then grabbed by the neck by Locus and lifted into the air.

Locus drew a knife form his hip, "You may have wings, but you didn't _earn_ them." Just as he was about to stab into Jaune, he was slashed across the back, breaking the jetpack and causing it to explode on his back.

The explosion knocked Jaune back; after he hit the ground, he lifted his head to see who caused it. Pyrrha was now dueling Locus one-on-one.

Locus stood in a more aggressive stance while Pyrrha stuck to her normal one. "You'll find that your polarity won't work on me anymore. Mercury Black's polarity nullifier is built into the suit."

Pyrrha glared, "I don't need it to beat you."

"We'll see." Locus said as he made the first move.

Pyrrha and Locus charged and clashed. Locus proved to be faster, but Pyrrha appeared to have a stronger defense than he initially expected.

As they fought, Jaune got up on one knee to look at his wound. He saw the blood run down his leg, whatever Locus used it went right though his aura like air. Jaune brushed his finger over the bullet hole in his leg and felt that the bullet wasn't too deep in his calf. It may have broken though the skin; the thick leather under his pants stalled the bullet enough not to go too deep.

His aura wasn't healing him to the point of pushing it out, whatever it was made of was keeping his aura suppressed. He stuck his finger inside to pull it out, thanks to the adrenaline that was already flowing in his system; he didn't feel it that much.

Once it was out he could feel the wound start to heal. He stood up but felt a bit of a limp in his posture. _"Hopefully it's enough…"_

Pyrrha blocked several swings and used some of her combat acrobatics. But despite all this, Locus could see a pattern forming and began to anticipate her moves. Once he saw the pattern he used it against Pyrrha.

She attempted a spear shot but Locus swung his sword to knock the blade off course and miss. He then moved to get her off her balance by aiming his blade swings more at her feet. She tried to avoid his wings but was hit twice by his fast hands, one cut to the left thigh, one grazing the right shoulder. Were it not for her armor in her shoulder, the damage would have been worse.

Jaune looked down at the knife to see it was made of the same material as the bullet. He picked it up and started to run as fast as he could towards Locus.

Just as Locus was kicked Pyrrha in the chest to the ground, he raised his left sword to stab her. Just then he felt a blade pierce his left shoulder and stab into the mechanical joint under the skin. "AAAH!" Jaune stabbed the blade in-between the metal joints of Locus' shoulder, right where he remember the 'mechanical failure' was written in the old file on him.

He turned quickly elbow Jaune in the face from behind. He attempted to use his left hand but it wouldn't move at all. He looked at his shoulder to see his obsidian knife buried in it. "Damn it." He reached over with his other arm and pulled it out.

He looked back to Jaune with a death glare and threw the knife as hard as he could. Jaune barely had enough time to react. He saw Pyrrha's Milo and swings his sword to deflect the knife. The resulting swing shattered the knife like glass. **(Obsidian is like glass, and metal beats glass)**

Jaune then stood up as Locus came at him with his other sword. They shared a few strikes, until Locus knocked the weapon out of Jaune's hand and slashed up his right arm.

Pyrrha watch Jaune drop milo and saw that Locus was swinging with intent to keep Jaune from getting it back. She looked back where Jaune was on the ground before and saw Joyuse in longsword-mode. She used her semblance to tug on the sword and send it flying towards the two fighters, hoping Jaune would see it and use it.

Jaune saw the sword coming and tumble rolled past Locus and caught it in mid air. With a quick spin and a powerful strike with both strength and aura, Jaune swung upwardly in a diagonal swing at Locus. Locus tried to block with his sword but Joyuse's aura enhanced blade cut though the sword like butter.

Locus didn't even notice that he was falling until he hit the ground. Once he hit the ground he realized that he was bisected diagonally. His other half fell to the side, motionless.

Locus looked up at Jaune who was covered in blood, sweat and breathing heavily. "There are… no strings on me…" Locus said with a fait voice and a chuckle as his last breath left his mouth.

Unaware to Jaune or Pyrrha, one of Salem's Sheer's was floating in the trees above watching the whole thing. Once it saw that the battle was over, it floated away deeper into the forest.

Jaune ran up to Pyrrha and helped her to her feet, then he looked back to where Boromir was and ran as fast as he could.

* * *

Once he found his way back to his fellow knight, and found him rested up against a tree. Jaune ran to, before he could say anything, Boromir exclaimed, "They took them! They took Belladonna and Schnee!"

"I know. Try not to move." Jaune turned to Pyrrha, "Find Ren, HURRY! GO!" Pyrrha could see the fear in his eyes and ran away as fast as she could to find their teammates.

"W-where's Ruby?" Boromir asked as he was panting.

Jaune was hesitant to answer but he did anyway, "I let her go…"

"Then you had the strength to do what I couldn't…" Boromir said as he put his hand on Jaune's shoulder. "I almost killed her for it."

"The Ring is beyond our reach now." Jaune said as he was putting pressure on the wound closest to Boromir's heart.

"I'm sorry… I didn't understand what you went though then, until now…" Boromir had tears welling up in his eyes, "I failed you all…"

"No, no, no! You did not fail anyone! You redeemed yourself! You did!" Jaune said as he was trying to get Boromir to look him in the eye, "You tried to save them from Locus and you fought with all the strength you had. That is more than enough to achieve redemption."

"How could you know that?" Boromir asked with a fast breath.

"Because that's what I had to believe in when I saved Vale." Jaune said with a sad tone. He then turned behind him to see if anyone was there, when he realized there wasn't he shouted, "COME ON! GET OVER HERE! NOW!"

"Leave it!" Boromir said as he pulled Jaune back to look at him. "It's too late for me… for me and my people…"

Jaune was confused, "What are you talking about?"

"The world humanity will fall, because of the sins of Atlas and Mantel… We enslaved Faunus by the tens of thousands and we though nothing of it." Boromir began to weep over how much he ignored and how bad it will come back to haunt them. He saw it first hand with Locus. "And it's not just humans, it's all those we see as inferior. My people would rather fatten themselves than help those that starve! When Atlas falls, the punishment for our sins will be paid. And for most it will be 'just a start.'"

Jaune gripped Boromir's arm on his shoulder and held it tight, "I don't know what destiny has in store for me or our people, but I promise you that I will commit whatever I can to ensure that your home won't fall… Nor our people, the people of Remnant, to fail."

"Our people." Boromir spoke though a mouth full of blood, "Aye… our people…" He lowered his view to look for his sword. Jaune saw what he was reaching for and placed it in his hand. Boromir lifted the sword to his chest and pressed it hard against his chest place.

Jaune didn't notice, but Pyrrha and Ren had arrived to help but realized that it was too late. The least they could do was remain silent as Jaune says his last goodbyes to a fallen comrade.

Boromir turned his head to spit out blood and then preceded to speak, "I would have followed you, my friend. My brother… My Lord Commander."

And just like that, Jaune could see that Boromir finally let go. Then a light glow began to shine on his sword and then it died down back to normal. Jaune started to sob, he moved his hand to close Boromir's eyes as he rested his head on his chest plate. He felt a hand lie on his shoulder and saw it to be Pyrrha's hand.

He stood up to hug her and she hugged him back to give him comfort. As they were holding each other she heard him speak, "They will wait for him to return… We need to make sure that they find him to bring him home."

* * *

Meanwhile back at the beach, Ruby was standing there at the boat. She was hesitant to turn it on, but she knew she had to. She knew that once she sailed away, she would truly be on her own.

In the forest, Yang was running as fast as she could, shouting Ruby's name. Her hands were covered in Uruk blood, and she looked like she punched her way though a whole hoard.

Ruby was sitting at the helm of the boat, thinking to herself before she turned the engine on. _"I wish the ring had never come to me, I wish_ none _of this ever happened."_ Ruby thought to herself. Just then a memory came to her from Maleficent.

 _"_ _So do any that live to see such times… But it's not up to them to decide. The only thing you can decide is what to do with the time you have."_

Tears began to drip down Ruby's eyes. She gripped the wheel on the helm tight as she turned on the engine. She set the boat in reverse and backed out of the beach.

Yang reached the beach and shouted, "RUBY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

Ruby could hear Yang from behind; she didn't look as she shouted back, "GO BACK, YANG! I have to do this on my own."

"LIKE HELL YOU ARE! I'M COMING WITH YOU!" Yang said as she walked out into the water. Once she saw that it was pointless to swim, she ran back to the beach. She looked up at one of the trees and felt it was tall enough. She ran behind the tree, waiting for the tree to be right between her and the boat and shot at its bark until it timbered over.

As the tree fell, she ran up the bark until she reached the end, used her weapons to propel her forward until she landed on the boat's deck. She landed rather roughly and hit her head on the side.

"YANG!" Ruby said as she got off the helm, not before setting it to autopilot. She ran to Yang and helped her to stand, "What the hell were you thinking?!"

"I made a PROMISE, DAMN IT!" Yang shouted. "A promise I made to dad and _our_ mother when you were born, 'I'll always take care of you'. And I'd be damned before a stupid ring will keep me from keeping that promise." Yang said as she hugged on Ruby.

Ruby started to tear up more as she hugged her back just as hard. They held each other for about five minutes; although Yang was never known to cry, this moment didn't stop her from bawling into her sister's shoulder.

Once they let go, Ruby smiled, "Lets go."

* * *

Jaune laid the first stone over the pile of rocks that was Boromir's temporary grave. Once it was set he walked over to the 'head' of the pile and stabbed it into the ground. Boromir's shield was opened into full disk and set up next to the sword. Jaune then placed Boromir's right gauntlet on the sword's handle and turned on its distress beacon.

Atlas was known to patrol this part of Anima for Mistral, when they would pass by they'd see the signal and would be the ones to take Boromir home for them. But since that wouldn't happen for a while, Jaune felt it would only be appropriate to have their funeral now while they have time.

"His name was Boromir Numenor, the eldest son of Chancellor Denathor and older brother of Faramir Numenor. He served as the Star Knight of Atlas for 23 years. He was tempted by darkness, and it almost cost him his honor, but when it came down to it he put his life on the line for the sake of his friends. He only first met all of us a few weeks ago… and he was willing to die so that we could fulfill our mission." Jaune's words started to choke up as he tried not to cry. Pyrrha rested her hand on his shoulder to comfort him, which gave him enough composure to finish, "He more than made up for his mistake. And I believe he found both redemption and peace today. He was a brave man, a good soldier… He was a soldier." Jaune took a deep breath, "He was a true Star Knight… And now his watch has ended."

"And now his watch has ended…" Pyrrha, Ren and Nora all said in unison. They may not have been Sky Knights, but they felt it was only right to say it in there absents.

Jaune turned to them and gave them a smile that was the best 'thanks' he could give without bawling in front of them.

Once it was over, Jaune placed Boromir's left gauntlet over his left arm. Since Jaune's was broken in the fight with Locus, he needed a replacement. In a way, it was like Boromir was still fighting with him.

Nora was standing on the broken stump that Yang made not too long ago and looked out to the coast where she could just barely see the boat. "Jaune, if we're going to catch up to them, we'll need to go now."

Nora turned back to Jaune when he did not answer. Ren could see it in his eyes, "We're not going with them, aren't we?"

"Ruby and Yang are on their own now," Jaune said with a sad tone, "It's safest for them as it is for us."

"Then it's over… The Fellowship failed…" Nora said in a depressed voice as she jumped down from the stump. "What are we supposed to do now?"

Jaune and Pyrrha saw the same kind of hopelessness in Ren's eyes as he and Nora stood close to each other. Jaune turned to Pyrrha and gave her a hopeful smile and a wink, he then walked to Ren and Nora as he rested his hands on both their shoulders, "This isn't over. And right now we need each other more than ever… Don't forget, we're still team JNPR."

Ren and Nora started to look up at him as he continued, "We're not just going to let Boromir's sacrifice be in vain and let Weiss and Blake remain captured. Our friends are out there, and they need us." Just as Jaune saw hope grow in their eyes he let go of them and moved towards the small pile of weapons they had stacked after the battle.

From there Jaune tossed to Ren Weiss' Myrtenaster and the **Stärke Belt** to Nora. Just as he put Blake's Gamble Shroud and placed it over his shoulder. "Only take essentials, leave anything that would only slow us down." Jaune then passed the bag full of food rations to Pyrrha as he picked up one of the duffle bags full of spare ammunition for all four of them. The other was given to Nora, whom put it over her shoulder.

Once Pyrrha caught the bag of food she gave a rather curious look and a smile, "I'm guessing you have a plan then?"

Once Jaune was sure that the bag was sealed and was in a good place for running he turned and smiled at her, "We're huntsmen and huntresses right?" they all nodded, "Then let's go hunt some monsters!" finished with a wink and stared running back into the forest.

Ren and Nora looked at each other and smiled, Nora shouted, "HELL YEAH!" as she ran after Jaune at top speed. Ren followed suite after he secured Myrtenaster on his belt. Pyrrha placed her bag over her shoulder and smiled as she ran after them, _"Feels good to be back…"_

* * *

Meanwhile, Ruby and Yang were still sailing on the ferry up the coast of Anima. As they were sailing, they were reaching the northernmost tip of Anima, close to the mountians and the more snowy regions. Form there, they hope to find some kind of refueling port to refuel their boat and go across another ocean to get to Mordor's continent of Draco. As they stood there, staring at the snowy coast of Anima, Ruby stood put her arm around Yang.

"Just one more full tank and we'll be on our way to Mordor…" Ruby said with a less than hopeful tone, more scared than otherwise. "I hope the others are ok…"

Yang put her arm under Ruby's shoulder and side hugged her, "I'm sure Jaune can take care of them… He did get us to Vale, I'm sure he'll think of something."

Ruby smirked for a second, but then it went away, "You think we'll see any of them again?"

Yang took a deep breath as she answered, "I would hope so."

"Yang…" Ruby said as she looked to her older sister, "Thank you for coming anyway."

Yang smiled back as she petted her sister's head like Qrow used to, "Where else would I be?"

Ruby and Yang then let go and continued their boat ride up the coastline, hoping to find the nearest port. Whatever was in stored for them next, they were both ready to face it together.

* * *

 **AN: AND SO ENDS THE "Fellowship" ARC! WHOOW…**

 **I kid you not this chapter tugged on a lot of heartstrings for me…**

 **And for those of you that are Game of Thrones fans, yes, I based Boromir's funeral off the Night's Watch funeral. Why? Because I thought it best for the scene since we didn't get any eulogies in the original story.**

 **I hope you guys liked this one, and I hope to have the next one done by next month on the day of the month. School is almost at a break for me so I could get more chapters done over the break (I hope…)**

 **Either way, this is the end of the first arc, please send me a review of how you felt about it and what you though overall so far. I would also like to thank all of you fro supporting me up to this point, and know that I have no intention of slowing down any further than I have already.**

 **PLEASE R &R!**

 **Oh I almost forgot, as always, ARKOS!**


	14. Escalation of War

**Escalation of War**

* * *

 **AN: THE SHOW MUST GO ON!  
Always wanted to say that ;)**

 **Merry Christmas, you guys!  
As a special treat to you all, I am giving you a pretty big chapter with a lot of story in it this time.**

 **So the story continues, and here we will get a better understanding on what really happened in Moria.**

* * *

Deep in the mountains of Vale, there was the Mines of Moria. Deep in its pits was the home of an ancient Grimm, said to have been one of the very first in the world. A Balrog. And in those pits it confronted a wizard that it saw as a threat and faced him head on the bridge of Khazâd-Dûm.

" _Go back to the darkness!_ " Ozpin growled as he stared down the beast with his green face and red eyes.

The Balrog swung its flaming whip around and the struck it against the cave wall beside it, the clap of the whip almost sounded like a lightning strike, even making the flash of one.

Ozpin took his cane with both his hands and shouted, " _YOU SHALL NOT PAAASSS!_ " He then slammed the tip of his cane into the bridge, making a bright flash. To everyone else, it didn't look like anything happened, so when the Balrog took a step on the bridge they were all surprised to find half the bridge brake off from where Ozpin was standing. The beast fell, yelling out a loud screech as it plummeted into the void below.

Ozpin's face returned to normal as he let out a sigh of exhaustion. He turned around to face the others but felt something hot wrap around his leg and pull him off the edge. He quickly grabbed onto the edge of the bridge and held on tight.

Ruby tried to run to the bridge and help Ozpin but was grabbed by Yang. "No, no!"

"OZPIN!" Ruby shouted as she was trying to get Yang to let go.

Jaune was about to help Ozpin but saw that the remaining half of the bridge was about to give way. Ozpin looks at Jaune in the eye and speaks softly, "Lead them well…" he then let go of the edge and fell into the darkness below.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!" Ruby shouted at the top of her lungs.

As Ozpin fell, he reached out and caught his cane on the way down. He then formed a green orb around himself and accelerated his speed to reach the Balrog and blasted it with grey colored light beams. The beams hit the beast hard, causing it pain and pushing it against he walls around them. The collision with the walls hit the beast almost as hard as the light beams did.

As they fell, their velocity reached terminal within minutes. The beast hit the walls a few times as they fell. Ozpin used this to his advantage as he used his sphere to ram and push the Balrog into the walls.

As the creature was pushed off the wall, it swung its arm at Ozpin hard.

"AAGH!" Ozpin was hit hard and slightly burned on his back.

As they both fell into an underground lake, Ozpin saw that the beast intended to open its wings and try to fly. He dove towards the Balrog's back and stabbed his cane into the joint on its right wing, snapping it out of place. The monster howled in pain and tried to swing its arm around to hit Ozpin, but the water below came too quickly. The two were both engulfed in water and steam that shot up to the celling.

* * *

"OZPIN!" Ruby shouted as she shot up from her sleeping bag.

Yang was standing, already awake and preparing breakfast. Ruby's shout nearly made Yang drop the firewood next to the fire. "Ruby! You okay?"

Ruby turned to see her sister, she was breathing heavily in a cold sweat. She began to relax when she realized that she was ok, and whatever dream she had was over. "Nothing. Just a bad dream."

"Well come on, help me cook some sausages." Yang said as she pulled out a pan to put over the fire.

One of the best things about her robotic arm, she couldn't get burned by the pan as she held it over the fire. They cooked a of the few sausage patties that they had along with some of their enchanted bread. As Yang was eating the bread, she was surprised at how it tasted.

"Normally I'm not one for eating bread by itself, but this isn't half bad."

Not too long after they finished their breakfast, they continued their journey. It had been 10 days since they split off from the Fellowship, today being their third day inland from the coast. They had to go though the mountain regions after they were forced to abandon their plan of traveling along the coast due to seeing swarms of Lancer Grimm flying overhead. Yang knew Grimm of that kind liked to swarm any kind of boats or planes unfortunate enough to be spotted by them.

The journey inland proved to be wise in the hopes to avoid the Grimm, but now they were traveling though a maze that grew as tall as the clouds and could prove to be as dangerous as the Grimm.

The two were climbing down a cliff using Yang's gift of enchanted rope to climb down from a cliff to continue making their way east. As they were descending on the rope, Yang looked down to Ruby, "Can you see the bottom? All I see are clouds, or is that fog? I can't tell."

Ruby looks down, "No, I can't see anything. Just keep going."

As they continued to slide down the rope, Yang's feet got stuck on a rock, causing her to shift hard into the cliff-side. This caused her backpack to shake and a small box fell out. Yang looked to see it fall and panicked, "RUBY, CATCH THAT! HURRY!"

Ruby looked up sharply and saw the box, she reached out to catch it before it was out of her reach, but then her other hand lost it's grip on the rope. She began to slide rapidly down, trying to stand on rocks but sliding off.

"RUBY!" Yang shouted in fear.

Ruby slide for about ten seconds until her feet touched a hard surface and she landed flat on her butt. She looked around to see the 'clouds' clear out from the gust of wind she caused. "Hehe, looks like it was fog, Yang."

Yang sighed in relief as she slid down to the bottom of the rope. As she let go of the rope, she looked around to see that the part of the mountain they were on was still fairly high from reaching "ground level". "This place is straight out of my nightmares…"

Ruby looked down at the box she caught for Yang, "What's in this?"

"Patch salt. Best you'll ever get in Vale. In case we ever wanted to cook eggs or roast a chicken," Yang said with a few hungry thoughts.

Ruby looked at Yang with a smirk, "Roast a chicken? Heh, only in our dreams, sis." She looked down at the salt, "I guess this is a good reminder of home too."

Yang smiled in agreement. Ruby walked past her and looked up at the rope, "We can't just leave this here. Someone or something could follow us down with it."

Yang gave a bit of an uneasy look. "I doubt anyone would follow us here." Yang looked up at the rope with a sad look, "It's a shame, it was a gift from Lady Maleficent… She said it was enchanted, whatever that means."

Ruby grabbed the rope and started to tug on it, Yang laughed, "Good luck pulling that off, Ruby. That's one of Dad's knots, no way it's coming undone with a tug."

Up above, the knot that was used to keep the rope tied around the rock that held them came undone as Ruby pulled on it. Just then they both saw the rope come down lose and free. As the last of it landed by their feet, the two looked at each other with surprise. Ruby then smiled, "I guess that's the enchantment."

They continued their way east, following a goat path. Another wave of fog came over them as they were traveling the path. After about an hour of traveling, Yang began to notice some similarities to their surroundings, then she realized, "Ruby… I think we're traveling in a circle."

Ruby noticed it too, "Crap."

"I don't think Ozpin meant for us to go this way." Yang said with a bit of frustration.

Ruby lowered her head, "He didn't mean for a lot of things to happen."

Yang realized she made her sister sad; she quickly walked up to her and rested her hand on her shoulder. Ruby looked up to see Yang looking at her with a bit of hope in her smile. They both continued down the path, hopefully this time to find a fork in the path. If goats were up here before, some must have gone down at some point.

As they were walking, rain rolled in over their heads. They were lucky enough to find a small cave to hide out in as the rain hit. As they were sitting there, Ruby could have sworn she heard a snarl sound in the wind. Something was out there, following them. She looked to outside the cave in the hopes to spot whatever it was, but it was nowhere in sight, and the snarling stopped. Ruby returned to the cave and sat by Yang as they waited the rain out.

The next morning they started up again and continued down the path. There they found that the path started to take them south, where they didn't want to go. Yang groaned in frustration, "Damn it! If only we had a map…"

Just then she smelled something in the air as the wind shifted. "Ugh, what is that terrible stench? You think there's a rotting deer nearby?"

Ruby thought she heard the snarling again, "No…" She slowly walked up to Yang and whispered, "We aren't alone out here."

* * *

That night, the two slept side by side. Up above them, a green frog-like creature was crawling down the steep rocks. It began to hiss and speak to itself in whispers, "The thieves-s. The thieves-s. The filthy little thieves-s."

The creatures climbed out form behind the shadow of rocks and out into the moonlight. It appeared to be Gollum himself. He looked to be scratched up and scarred due to the torture he endured in Mordor. His skin was green as grass, his eyes were large and had grey irises, and he had a wide mouth. He almost looked like a humanoid frog; evidently the Faunus traits in him were mutated and enhanced by the Ring after keeping it for so long.

"Where is it? Where is it? They stole it from us! My precious-s…" He climbed closer to them from above, "Curse them. We _HATES_ them! It's ours, it is, and we wants it!" As he reached for Ruby's throat for the ring, Ruby and Yang got up and grabbed onto Gollum's arms to pull him down hard.

Gollum got back up and pushed them away from him. It surprised them on how strong he was, given how thin he appeared to be. Gollum looked to Ruby to see that the Ring was hanging out of her shirt on a chain. He then charged at her but was stopped when several bullets blasted near his feet.

He jumped away and turned around to see Yang with her gauntlets out and shooting her Fire Dust rounds at him. Gollum snarled as he moved around, dodging her shots. He moved so quickly and jumped so far that he ended up on top of her, body slamming her into the ground.

He quickly got off Yang as a large red scythe flew past his back. He turned and dodged Ruby faster than she could swing. He jumped on her and caused her to fall to the ground as he reached for the Ring around her neck, trying to fit his finger into the gold band.

Yang then came up behind him and pulled him off Ruby. Gollum flew towards a rock and hit his back against it. He then got back up with no effort and ran at Yang again, with a bit more fury in his eyes.

As he jumped on Yang, he crawled onto her back and wrapped his arm around her neck and her legs around her body. He began to squeeze hard on her neck, not enough for her semblance to absorb it, but enough to slowly suffocate her.

Ruby then got back up, drew her dagger and ran up to them. She laid the edge of the blade on Gollum's throat; making him lean his head back against the rock. "This is Thorn. You've seen this before when it was my mother's spear tip. Isn't that right, Gollum?"

She looked down to see that he was still holding Yang, "Let her go, _now_ …" Ruby said as she let the edge of her blade cut into the top layer of his skin. Gollum quickly let go of Yang and then began to wail in misery.

* * *

Gollum's screams echoed in the mountains like a dying animal. Yang had him tied at the end of her enchanted rope, tugging on him to follow as he pulled back. He continued to grab onto rocks, trying to pull on the rope to come undone but it was no use. "IT BURNS! IT BURNS US! Take it off us!"

Yang began to get irritated; it was bad enough he was doing it for the past hour, but by now his emotions could be attracting Grimm they don't even know are coming yet. She pulled him and forced him to the ground, "It's hopeless, Ruby! Every Grimm on the planet will come for us before we even leave these mountains at this rate. Let's just tie him up and leave him here."

Gollum looked at them in fear, "NO! That would kill us. Kill us…"

"It's more than you deserve!" Yang said as she glared at him.

Ruby looked at the poor creature waling and crying before them, when before she thought only anger towards him, now she felt pity. "Maybe he does deserve to die, but now when I see him, I can understand why mom let him live."

Gollum got up and walked on his knees to them, "We be nice to them if they be nice to us." He then grabbed the rope and held it towards them, "Take it off us…" he sounded as if he was crying.

He then lowered his head to them, "We swear to do whatever you wants, we swear!"

"How could I possibly believe whatever word you say? What could possibly hold you to your word?" Ruby asked with a bit of skepticism.

Gollum got up on one knee, trying to seam formal, as best as he could. "We swear to follow the one who owns the precious… we swear on… ON THE PRECIOUS!" he then began to cough loudly, "Gollum. Gollum."

Ruby looked at him with a bit of a realization, "This Ring is of old magic, and as far as I've seen when it comes to it, there is always a binding to it. It has you bound, which means it will hold you to whatever word you give… Am I wrong?"

"Yes…" Gollum began to crawl slowly towards them, "on the precious."

Yang felt a bad vibe come off him when she saw the way Gollum look at Ruby, "I don't believe you!" She slapped him with her robot arm and knocked him away. As he tried to run she pulled on the string and pulled him back.

"YANG!" Ruby shouted in disgust. Yang looked to Ruby with an uneasy glare.

"He just tried to kill us, Ruby! And now he swears to help us on a Ring he just tried to kill us over? We let him go now, he'll try to kill us in our sleep!"

Ruby grabbed both of Yang's shoulders, "We need a way out of these mountains. He found us, maybe he knows a way across that is safer." Ruby could see that Yang was seeing her point and relaxed. She then walked over to Gollum on the ground, gripping at his neck where the rope was pulled tight.

"You know the way to Mordor from here?" Ruby asked as she looked down at him.

"Yes…" Gollum said as he nodded his head.

"You've been there before?" Ruby asked.

"Yes…" Gollum repeated.

Ruby then knelt down and pulled the rope off his neck, she could see that he was genuinely surprised that she was taking it off him, "You _will_ lead us to the Black Gate from here."

Gollum led first, leading them off the path and though a maze of rocks and other paths. He ran on all fours, moving faster than Ruby and Yang could keep up. "To the gate. To the gate, Mistress says." Just then Gollum started to talk in a bit of a darker voice and more raspy, " _NO! We won't go back. Not there. Not to HER!"_

It wasn't long that he ran out of sight, which made Yang angry. "HEY! Get back here!" It wasn't long that they had lost him entirely, "Well, that's just great… Now how do we get out of here?" Yang says with frustration.

Gollum ran far enough ahead to be out of sight, and then out of nowhere he began to argue to himself. "But we swore to serve the Master of the Precious…" _"NO! Ashes and dust and thirst there is, and pits, pits, pits. And Orcses and Grimmses, thousands of Grimmses. And always SHE is always watching us… NO!"_

Gollum tried to walk away but he hit his own head against the wall repeatedly, "She owns the ring, she can helps us get it back… Don't we wants it back?" He began to growl, _"Grrr… Fine… for now."_

Ruby and Yang looked around, hoping to find their own way, but then they both saw Gollum climbing above one of the high rises, "Come girlses, come. We get down from mountains, this way!"

* * *

Meanwhile, down south, Blake and Weiss were at the mercy of what remained of the Uruk Hai pack that Locus lead to capture them. These beasts were running for days, only stopping for night for camping and then leaving before the sun could rise. With Locus gone, the only one leading the pack now was Alpha, the first of their kind. The pack itself was no more than 30 Uruks. A few of them were Warlocks that used Dust staffs, the rest were either Marksman with battle rifles or Marauders with broadswords or large hammers.

Weiss and Blake had their hands tied and were put on the backs of two Uruks to carry them. As they were running, Blake was looking around at her surroundings. She looked to her right and saw Weiss on the back of the Uruk next to them. "Weiss… Weiss…" She tried to call out to her, but Weiss appeared to either be asleep or out cold.

As they ran though the rocky hills, Alpha halted the pack when he smelled that they weren't alone. As they stopped, several Orcs from Mordor came out from behind rocks. Some of them were wearing goggles or sunglasses, to keep their eyes safe from the sunlight. The leader among the Orcs walked up to Alpha, "You're late, pup… When you took so long, Saruman ordered us to go looking for you. Where's Locus?"

"Dead, and I don't take orders from little Orc-maggots like you." Alpha said as he growled at them

"Dead? Who killed him?" The Orc asked.

"One of the Knights. After he killed one of them. We have two of the girls Saruman wanted, he will have his prize!" Alpha said as he gestured to the two huntresses that were tied up on Uruk backs. "And I intend to follow though with my orders…"

Blake whispered at Weiss, trying to talk to her. Just then Blake felt a fist hit her back, "Keep quiet, scrawny!" an Uruk said.

The creature then walked up to Weiss and lifted her head, "Aw, is the little pearly white girl sleeping? Maybe she needs a drink!" he said as he pulled out his bag of water and pored it on her face. Weiss instantly woke up and coughed as the water flowed from her mouth and nose and into her lungs, causing her to choke on it a bit.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" Blake shouted, then she felt a cold blade rest on her neck, "Unless you want the same, you will keep your little bitch mouth SHUT!" said another Uruk.

Blake looked over to Weiss and saw her coughing up the water, "Weiss, you ok?"

Weiss coughed, "I'm fine." She turned her head to Blake with a bit of a smile, "I was just resting my eyes."

"You're hurt." Blake said with worry in her tone.

"No… I'm just sleepy…" Weiss said with a slight smile, trying to make Blake feel a bit better. Her smile then vanished as she spoke to Blake with a serious tone, "Don't worry about me, Blake."

Back at the front of the pack, one of Alpha's warlocks began to sniff sharply. This Warlock had had more animal traits to a wolf, so he could smell better than Alpha. "What is it? What do you smell?"

He sniffed more until he was certain, "Humans. One of them is the Knight."

Blake heard that and began to smile, _"Jaune."_

Alpha snarled in anger, "They picked up our trail. LET'S MOVE!" he shouted to the pack as they continued their journey back to Haven Academy.

As they were running, Blake pulled her necklace out with her teeth and undid the leather strap that held it together, causing the main part of the necklace to hit the ground. The main part of the necklaces was a black cat's head with a white pearl in the forehead. It was so small; none of the Uruks saw it as they walked over it.

* * *

Jaune had his ears to the ground, listening for the echoes in the rocks of the pack. He could hear that the patterns were getting faster, "They're running again…"

As he lifted his head he felt the wind blow in the direction they were going, Ren realized it at the same time as Jaune, "They caught our sent."

"Damn it…" Jaune cursed. "COME ON!" They both began to run on the dirt path the Uruks made not too long ago.

Pyrrha was behind htem, trying to keep up. And not too far behind her was Nora, panting heavily.

"Three days and nights of chasing… barely any food, only three hours of sleep… and no sign of our friends. What the hell are these things made of?" Nora groaned.

JNPR followed the path the Pack made and ran as fast as they could run up and down hills with no sigh of slowing down. It wasn't until midday that Jaune noticed a white spot in the trampled grass. He reached down and pulled out the black cat necklace. "And here I thought cats always land on their feet." Jaune said jokingly. He held out the necklace to the others, shearing the hope he received from it.

"Then they're okay!" Pyrrha said as he handed it to her, "They know we're coming."

"They're at least a day ahead of us." Ren said with a bit of hope. Jaune nodded as they both continued to run.

As they ran off, Pyrrha saw Nora rolling down the hill they came form and quickly got back up. "Come on, Nora! We're gaining on them!"

"Valkyries aren't well known for marching cross-country! We're only good at fighting at short distances." Nora shouted at them as she ran after them.

As they reached a high hill, they looked at the wide-open grasslands of Anima. "We're close to the kingdom of Mistral," Pyrrha said as she then shared with her team the old stories she knew growing up, "I heard one of the old kingdoms that lived in these lands was called 'Rohan'."

Nora looked to Pyrrha, "What happened to it?"

"The same thing that happened to the other fallen kingdoms of old, Grimm." Ren said with a bit of a dim tone.

Pyrrha added, "The survivors moved into Mistral and are survived through the Rohirrim branch of Mistral's military."

Jaune looked on to see the dust cloud that was made by the Uruks. He pulled out a set of binoculars and tried to see them. "I can't tell where they're heading." He handed them off to Ren, "Can you?"

Ren looked into the goggles and could tell the direction they were going, "They are turning northeast. They are taking them to Haven."

"Saruman." Jaune hissed with anger.

* * *

 **(The following scene starts 10 days ago, about an hour after Jaune killed Locus.)**

In Haven's main tower, Saruman himself held his hand over the Palantir, hoping to talk to his queen. He could see Salem sitting at her throne, with Rourke and Jadis by her side.

"Your Grace, production is continuing as scheduled. The army you requested will be as we planned." Just then Saruman felt his hand burning on the Palantir.

" **I take it then you haven't heard the news, my friend.** " Salem said as she gave Saruman a dark glare.

Saruman tried to keep his calm composure as he gripped his wrist with his other hand, trying to remove it from the orb, but it was no use. He cringed as he felt his hand burn as it rested on the orb, "What news… I've heard nothing…" he said as he fell to his knees in pain.

" ** _Locus is dead, Saruman. Killed by Jaune Arc and Pyrrha Nikos._** " Jadis said with a bit of a hiss.

"When? I wasn't informed yet!" Saruman said as the pain worsened.

Salem stood up from her throne and walked towards Saruman's mercury projection, " **Your 'perfect soldier' is no better than any Grimm against Huntsmen, let alone Knights or Maidens! What purpose would I have for an army that can't even take down eight hunters?** "

Saruman tried to regain enough strength to speak, "Quantity over quality!"

Salem stopped the pain, " **I'm listening…** "

Saruman stood back up and looked to Rourke, "You're a real military man, Numenor. What was the most common reason for achieving victory in your day?"

" ** _Having a bigger army._** " Rourke answered.

"Exactly… These days, humanity and its arrogance has relied on better weapons, vehicles and more reasons to not have men at the frontline…" Saruman stood up and regained his composure, "These Uruk Hai are better than the average soldier, and I can make them by the _tens of thousands_!"

" ** _How?_** " Jadis asked with a skeptical glare.

Saruman then gestured to Haven, "Isengard's tombs. There are thousands skeletons in the catacombs, catacombs that stretch on for miles down below the surface. So many skeletons that span as far back as a hundred generations…"

" ** _In two month's time of your production of these Uruks, he would have 200,000 of these beasts._** " Rourke says with a bit of an impressed smile.

Salem saw his smile; she then turned to Jadis to see her nod in agreement. Salem then turned to Saruman, " **Very well, my friend, continue to build my army as planned. However, thanks to the untimely death of our dear friend Locus, I will need** ** _you_** **to fulfill his original job.** "

"That is?" Saruman asked in confusion.

" **I am aware you have several spies in Mistral right now, use them, bring the kingdom to its knees.** " Salem said with an ambitious grin.

"I will not fail you! I will let the world know that they cannot stand against the powers of both Mordor and Haven, and the Union of the Two Towers…" Saruman said as he bowed his head.

Salem smiled at his words, taking them as flattery; she then ended the magical link. Once Saruman let go of the Palantir, he looked at his hand and saw that there was no burn marks at all, she was making him think he felt the burns.

One of the first things he intended to do to truly start his mission shut down the Cross Continental Tower network, permanently. Once inside the main server farm of the CCT, Saruman placed his scroll and started typing into the main control console. Then a black and white chess piece showed up on the screen, and then all the servers started to shut down one at a time. The worst part was, he sent the shut down signal to all the other towers, shutting down the main use of communications between kingdoms.

Remnant wouldn't be completely without communications, thanks to landlines and shortwave radios, but this was a very crippling blow to Remnant's security in a time of war.

Saruman made his way down to the production line for the breeding of his Uruks and the forging of their weapons and armor. He watched as their weapons were being forged form the materials that the late Locus provided not too long ago, including the weapons and dust as well.

As he walked though the production line, he saw the hoards coming out of the black pit and saw them stand tall and strong. He looked on his creations with pride.

As he reached the forge he was met by the Forge-master and spoke with him about production. "I want the first 50 well armed and ready to march within two weeks time."

"But my lord there are too many!" The forge-master said, "They cannot all be armed in time, we don't have the means!"

Saruman rolled his eyes, "Build a dam, block the stream, and work the furnaces night and day if you have to!"

The forge-master then brought up the other problem with the order, "We don't have enough fuel to keep the furnaces as hot, and we're running out of Industrial Grade Dust."

Saruman points the forge-master to the forest to their North, "The Forest of Fangorn is on our doorstep… USE IT!"

The forge-master looked at the large forest that stretched almost as high as the mountain, he smiled at the potential they could get out of that much timber. "Yes…"

About a day later, after making several calls, Saruman met up with a member of the White Fang who led the faction within Anima. His name was Kaa Verde, a Snake Faunus with green eyes. Kaa and Saruman set up plans to cripple Mistral's infrastructure.

"Once my people hit the factories in Anemone, Tustsuji and Saboten village, Mistral won't be able to build any more vehicles for months." Kaa said as he put his fingers on the map, pointing out all three villages. "As for the farms surrounding them, with all the chaos, the Grimm will come in and do the rest."

"Good plan, the kingdom's leadership are so sure that war will come to them from the skies or from the sea, when really it will come from their own backyard. I must say, this is a good plan," Saruman said as he patted Kaa on the back but then he realized something, "but there are a lot of Faunus who farm in those lands, are you sure you want to do this?" Saruman was more or less curious on this captain's commitment to his plan.

"I'm sure. Those traitors refused to help us when we called arms to take Menagerie from the Belladonnas. This is what they deserve." Kaa said with a cold tone in his voice. He then turned to Saruman, "Umber Kahn will be pleased with you aid in this, Saruman. And when the time comes, we will be with you to take Mistral down."

"Just ensure that Umber knows that our queen wants his full cooperation, without complications." Saruman said as he walked out of the room.

Roughly three days have passed and Saruman is already seeing progress. The Fang was true to their word: all three factories were up in smoke. Mistral's war machines were reduced to what they currently had.

Saruman looked into the Palantir, both to look at his progress and to shear it with Salem. "The kingdom of Mistral is now under siege. Desperate to find their real enemy, they end up swamping themselves with the Grimm."

While looking though the orb, Saruman saw a small farmers village where families were starting to run from the Grimm.

In the middle of the all the chaos and running, a woman put her daughter on a horse and then her nephew, "Oscar, you take Dorothy and ride straight for Mistral. Don't stop for anything, let them know what is going on."

"I'm sure you can come with us, Aunt M. Look for another horse!" Oscar said as he helped his cousin onto the horse's saddle. She started to cry to her mother, "I don't want to leave. I don't want to go!"

Aunt M. held her daughter's head in her hands and kissed her forehead as she cried, "Dorothy, I _will_ find you there." Aunt M. then heard screams in the distance; she looked out to the field and saw the hoards of Grimm coming from the tree lines. She could see everyone run from them as they charged with claws out and fangs ready to tear them to shreds. Aunt M. looked to Oscar, "GO NOW!"

Oscar kicked his horse to go and they galloped away, with other horse riders with them. Aunt M. looked out to them getting away and felt a sense of hope, "Be safe…"

Saruman meanwhile saw all the destruction and saw it as "progress," thinking nothing of the suffering before him. He was fulfilling his mission: the Westfold lands of Mistral were burning. "Mistral, my queen… is ready to fall."

* * *

 **(Back to present day)**

Several motorcycle troopers were riding though a trail, following a distress beacon from Prince Theodred's convoy. At the lead was their Star Knight of Mistral, Eomer. He had green eyes and red hair. He led his Sky Knights through the brush and began to smell smoke.

As they moved though the woods, they started to see bodies, some of their own dead. They also found something else, they appeared to look human, but at the same time they were grotesque and mutated to be any Faunus. Although they didn't know it, they found the dead bodies of Uruk Hai.

As Eomer dismounted his bike, he walked up to one of the dead Uruks and saw it's flesh dissolve, just like Grimm do when they die. Only, the bones of the creature remained when the body died. _"If it's dissolving now, then this happened recently…"_ Eomer thought.

"Find the King's son!" Eomer ordered loudly. _"Please, let us not be too late."_

The Sky Knights searched around among the dead bodies of soldiers and some civilians that were among the convoy. Theodred lead a mercy mission to lead refugees to the safety to the capital, to his misfortune they were ambushed by Uruks and Grimm. Eomer saw signs of battle, aside from Uruks, he could see physical evidence that there were Ursa and Deathstalkers involved in the battle. Unfortunately there were no survivors in sight.

As Eomer walked around, searching for his cousin, he heard a soldier speak with anger, "Mordor will pay for this!"

Eomer walked up to an Uruk corpse and saw that its helmet had a white lion paw print on it, last time he saw that mark, he graduated from Haven Academy. "These bastards didn't come from Mordor."

"Supreme Commander, OVER HERE!" a man shouted in the distance. Eomer saw one of his soldiers call out to him while he was checking out a man on the ground.

Eomer ran as fast as he could, trying not to trip on any corpses, and then sees the man his Sky Knight found to be his cousin. Theodred was breathing, barely, but he was alive.

"Get a medevac. We're going home." Eomer said as he helped his man carry Theodred to the nearest medic truck.

* * *

They drove as fast as they could on the main road until they reached the capital. They drove through the main street of Mistral city. Using a gurney, they took Theodred to the hospital inside the capital and gave him the best care they could give.

Eomer's twin sister, Eowyn, ran into the room where she could watch the doctors operate on her cousin. She found her brother there, watching by the window. "How bad?" she asked, with a bit of hope in her tone.

"So far they found five fractures, three broken ribs, his left leg broken in two places and he lost a lot of blood before we got him here…" There was no sorrow in his voice, only anger. "Doctors are doing what they can, but they say he'll be lucky to last the night." They grew up with Theodred since they were children, and now they both were looking at him on the edge of death.

Eomer turned to his sister and was immediately hugged by her, she was trying not to cry on him but she was failing. He held her for a bit then they let go, "We need to talk to the King."

* * *

 **(A reader named "Flash600," heavily influenced the following scene)**

Eomer at his king, his uncle, and felt a great wave of pity and rage wash over him. His uncle was once a great man, a great warrior and a greater king. After he had taken the Throne of Mistral, he became a wise a benevolent ruler, loved by all, and he loved his people. When both of his younger brothers, one of them the Star Knight of Mistral before Eomer and the other just a younger brother, Theoden took them all in and raised them as though they were his own children. Four children: one son, one nephew and two nieces.

King Theoden was a proud warrior, a strong king, but most of all a good man. That was not the man sitting in front of him. The man sitting in front of him was old, feeble, and decrepit. His beard was long and gray, his face was sunken, his skin was wrinkled and waxen, he lacked the strength to even get up out of his chair, and he looked like he couldn't even hear the report Eomer was giving.

As per the right, for any Star Knight of any given kingdom, he called for an immediate war summit to speak to the king about what they need to do. "Your Grace, your son was ambushed by Grimm and some kind of new creature." Eomer said with frustration in his tone, he thought such new would get at least a reaction out of his uncle, but nothing. He didn't even seem fazed by the news of his son's current status, "If we don't defend our kingdom, then Saruman will take it by force."

"That is a lie!" said a voice from behind Theoden's throne.

A cold raspy voice echoed through the hall, and a pale, thin man with watery eyes, a rat's tail, and slightly rodent like teeth emerged from behind Theoden's throne. This man was Peter Slate, Councilor of King Theoden. "Saruman Lionheart has ever been our friend and ally."

Eomer glared at Slate, silently warning him to shut up, before continuing his report.

"Grimm and these new creatures have been wandering freely across our lands. Unchecked. Unchallenged. Killing at will. Some of them were bearing the Lion Mark of Saruman." At this, Eomer threw a helmet to the ground, it rolled to a stop at Theoden's feet, a white lion paw print clearly emblazoned on it.

Slate stared at the helmet for a moment, before turning sharply and kneeling down next to the throne, placing his hand on the king's arm. "Why do you lay these troubles on an already troubled mind? Can you not see? Your King is wearied by your malcontent, your war-mongering…"

"War-mongering?" Eomer exclaimed with pure rage in his eyes.

Since he got nothing from his uncle, he walked out, waited until Slate was alone and confronted him.

Eomer slammed Slate into the wall with a look of pure rage on his face. "How long is it since Saruman bought you? What was the promised price, Peter? When all the men are dead you will take your share of the treasure?"

Slate's eyes nervously glanced to the right; Eomer followed his gaze to see he was staring at Eowyn as she was walking past them. She knew what her brother was doing, but didn't want any part of it, so she continued walking.

As Eomer turned back to Slate his anger only grew when he saw what Peter was staring at. He grabbed Slate's head, and forced him to look at him.

"I'm getting tired of you staring at my sister like some predator… Your words in that chamber alone prove you have betrayed us for Saruman-" Before Eomer could continue, two men emerged from down the hall, and assaulted Eomer giving Slate a chance to recover.

When Slate stood back up he stared at Eomer look of pure hatred.

"It would appear that you are just as smart as your father, Supreme Commander. I'm afraid you know too much." The men continued to beat Eomer, one delivering a brutal punch to his stomach.

"Henceforth, you are banished from the Kingdom of Mistral, under penalty of death."

Eomer's aura gave him a quick recovery as he broke loses from his attacker's grip. He knocked one man down hard with an elbow to the head and heal kicked another hard enough that he hit the wall behind him. "You have no power over me! Your orders mean nothing!"

"Oh, but this order comes not from me, but from the king himself." Eomer's eyes widened in shock as Slate held up a piece of paper. "He signed it this morning." Slate gave a prideful smile that was short lived when he saw Eomer reach for his sword.

"You Son Of A-"

 **THWACK!**

Eomer stared in shock at the arrow that was buried in the wall directly in front of his face, he turned and looked down the hall and stared in shock at the man with a green hoodie and a Bow and Arrow aimed at his head, the most surprising thing, however, was the look of absolute shame on his face.

"Robin Loxley?" Eomer was surprised to find his old friend at his enemies defense, "This man is a traitor, can't you see that?!"

Robin's bow lowered. "I-I'm sorry, old friend...but the king ordered it. And I made a vow, as did you." He then raised his bow again, "Now follow yours and obey the order."

The two men got back up and grabbed onto Eomer's hands. Eomer pulled himself out of their grasp but was willing to walk with them. They then walked out of the hallway and outside to the courtyard.

With a flick of the wrist, Robin transformed his bow back into a sword and placed it into a sheath on his back. Slate placed his hand on the man's shoulder, "Well done Lieutenant Loxley, you truly are a loyal soldier of Mist-"

Robin grabbed Slate and slammed him into the wall he then whipped out a knife and held it up to Slate's cheek, "I obey the King, worm tail! Not you! You'd be wise to remember the difference."

He then released Slate and proceeded to walk away.

 _"_ _Damn it Pyrrha where the hell are you?! If we ever needed you it would be now."_ Robin thought as he walked the same direction Eomer went.

* * *

Eomer was let go by the guards as they exited the capital building. They may have been following Slate's orders to banish Eomer, but they weren't about to disgrace their Star Knight in public.

As Eomer walked down to the barracks, he was allowed to take his personal bike. Before he could mount is bike he was approached by two men, Grun Gräuel of Team GMBL and Cardin Winchester of Team CRDL. Grun was sent to be a representative to Menagerie, and Cardin as a representative from Vale. The leaders of both counties heard about the trouble Mistral had been having for the past week. The team leaders brought with them their teams and a handful of troops from their countries to help however they can.

 **(In case my readers forgot, Grun Gräuel is Yang's fiancé in this story, created by "Nightengale4698")**

Grun was the first to speak to Eomer, "Commander, what's going on? Where are you going?"

"Under the 'orders of the king' I have been banished." Eomer said aggressively as he packed his bike full of supplies.

"That's outrageous! This is a time of War! What is Theoden thinking?" Grun said with anger in his tone. He knew that in these times that Star Knights have control of the military of the kingdom; if Eomer is banished now, Mistral is vulnerable.

"HE ISN'T!" Eomer almost shouted at Grun, he took a deep breath, "As far as I can guess, Peter Slate has control of the kingdom now, thanks to Saruman."

"Slate?" Cardin asked with confusion, "That rat brain? How is that possible?"

"I don't know… But until my uncle is free I can't be here." Eomer said as he finished packing. "I'll gather the Sky knights and try to hold our kingdom's defenses as best we can, hopefully long enough for my uncle to regain his senses."

"What should we do? I mean we can go with you." Cardin asked. This was Eomer's country, so this was his call.

Eomer saw that Grun was willing to do the same but he knew a better place for them to be. "Stay here, and help defend the people. You two came here to help my kingdom, do so here," he started his engine and said one last thing before riding off, "And pray for a miracle."

Grun watched as this kingdom's Star Knight ride off, he felt sad to see a man banished form his home, from his family. _"May your families light guide your way, Eomer Nikos."_

* * *

 **(Back with the chase!)**

JNPR ran as fast as they could through the grasslands of Rohan, never wavering under threat of their friends in danger. They had been running for almost a day and a half, the only clue they had was that they were on their trail but they weren't getting any closer.

Nora was having the most trouble until she put her hammer into launcher mode and placed it on her back. She was breathing heavily, "Just keep breathing, that's the key. Breathe…"

Pyrrha ran up along side Jaune, "These things run as if there was fire behind them…"

Jaune tried his best to keep running as he replied, "Whatever they're made of, Saruman knew what he was doing."

Nightfall came quickly for both them and the Uruks. The Uruks dropped Blake and Weiss on the ground as most of them were panting hard. One of the Orc soldiers that joined started to complain to Alpha, "We're not going any further, till we've had a breather!"

Alpha rolled his eyes as he turned to his men, "Get a fire going. We'll leave in two hours."

The Uruks wasted no time chopping branches and tree bark in the forest next to their horde.

Weiss crawled over to Blake so that they could stay together. "You ok?" Weiss asked as she settled next to her teammate. "Who would have thought being carried piggy back could be so tiring?" They both started to laugh quietly; this gave them a bit of a chance to relax, even if it was brief.

All of a sudden, they both started to hear sounds, almost sounding like groaning. Weiss' eyes widened, "What's making that noise?"

Blake looked up at the direction they were coming from and knew instantly, "It's the trees…"

"What? How is that possible?" Weiss asked with complete confusion.

Blake looked to Weiss with a surprised yet curious look, "My father used to tell me of old stories that happened during the First Great War, something that Lady Maleficent did. Mistral and Vale were under siege for months on end, running out of resources and men to fight. Until Maleficent went to both of the major forests of the kingdoms and brought some of the trees to life."

"No way…" Weiss looked up at the trees, "When you say, 'come to life', do you mean…?"

"It had something to do with them drinking enchanted water, it allowed them to speak, talk to each other, even move…" Blake said with a bit of fear in that last part. Weiss just got a big chill.

Alpha started to hear some of the Uruks and Orcs growl and groan. One of them finally spoke up, "I'm starving… We ain't had anything but maggoty bread for THREE STINKING DAYS!"

An Orc soldier agreed, "Yeah! Why can't we have some meat?" He then turned to the girls on the ground and started to bear his teeth, "What about them, they're fresssh," he hissed.

Alpha looked to who the Orc was referring to and growled at him, "They are NOT for _eating_."

The Orcs still licked their lips at them; some even grabbed them off the ground and placed them in the center of the hoard. Another Orc stepped out from the group and looked at them, "What about their legs? They wont need those…"

Weiss and Blake looked at the Orc with disgust, the Orc started to drool, "Ooh, they look tasty." But before he could get at them he was swatted away by Alpha.

"Get back SCUM!" He growled like a wolf ready to kill, "the prisoners go to Saruman, alive and unharmed. Those were his orders." Alpha could easily see that there was now a divide in the hoard, the Orcs and Uruk Hai stared down at each other with their teeth out and ready for a fight.

"Alive?" One of the Orcs asked. He looked over by the girls with a confused glare, "Why alive?" Then an idea popped into his head, "Does he intend to use them as slaves for labor, or as personal slaves? He he he."

Alpha stood between the girls and the Orc that wanted them as he growled, "Locus was ordered to retrieve them because one of them carries a weapon. A magical one. One that will win us the war against the Four Kingdoms."

Blake and Weiss looked at each other, Weiss whispered, "He thinks we have the Ring?"

Blake nodded, "And when they find out the truth, we're dead."

Neither of them realized that an Orc snuck though the Uruks and came at the girls form behind, "Just a mouthful, a bit off the flank!" He raised his knife ready to cut Blake but was then lost his head from a single swing of Alpha's broadsword.

The Orc's head fell between the girls, and his body fell over motionless, Alpha snarled, "Looks like meat's back on the menu, boys."

All the other Orcs and Uruks howled and growled as they didn't waste time tearing apart the Orc corpse for food. Weiss and Blake used this opportunity to try to crawl away into the darkness of the forest close by, but then Weiss felt a boot hit her back and push her into the ground hard.

Blake turned to see who stopped her, but was backslapped by the Orc that was on Weiss. He then turned Weiss around so that he could look her in the eye as he rested a knife against her cheek, "Go ahead and scream, I dare you… That _mutt_ of an Orc won't save you this time…"

Just then all three heard a gunshot in the darkness, and the Orc over Weiss was shot in the back. He wailed in pain as he fell over, letting Weiss go.

Before any of the Orcs and Uruks knew it, they were surrounded by dozens of soldiers on motorcycles. Shooting, slashing and stabbing at will, at any beast the soldiers could see in the night. Some of the soldiers used rifles that could configure as spears and simply through them at an Uruk before it had a chance to react.

Weiss and Blake had to be careful, more so, now that they were in the middle of a fight. Weiss all of a sudden saw a bike head right for her; the driver didn't appear to have seen her, since it didn't seam to slow down.

* * *

The next morning, JNPR continued their chase for the Uruks. As they were running, Pyrrha recognized the sunrise to be more red than usual, _"Red sun… People died in a fight last night."_ Her uncle used to tell her of old stories; that when red a sun rises, a warrior's burial has happened.

As they ran up a hill, they heard the roar of motorcycles and armored vehicles in the distance. Jaune looked out to see them come over a hill, riding on a trial that wasn't far from him and the team. He recognized their armor and some of the symbols on their vehicles, "Sky Knights of Mistral."

Jaune drew his pistol, loaded a flare bullet and shot in the air, hoping they'd notice. They did, almost immediately, the bikes and trucks turned towards them. Some of the bikes circled the team, surrounding them on all sides.

And once they were surrounded, all the knights in the center circle pointed their rifles at the team of hunters with no sign of hesitation. Jaune motioned everyone to put their hands up, this is their home after all.

"Do not attempt to move, or they'll be shooting themselves," Nora whispered into Ren's ear. Ren rolled his eyes, while also trying not to laugh.

"What business do four hunters have in the Riddermark in a time of war?" A man said as he walked past some of the knights. Pyrrha recognized the voice as she turned around to face the man.

Just then their eyes met, "Eomer?"

"Pyrrha…" He was both surprise and relieved. Just then they both ran at each other and hugged tightly.

Without even having to be told, all the other knights lowered their weapons. They started to back off and started to refuel their bikes a few feet from the group while they continued their conversation.

Nora and Ren heard some of the soldiers whispered amongst themselves, the words "Princess Pyrrha" came up a few times.

Nora and Ren were both confused instantly. "Uh, what?" Nora asked with complete confusion.

Pyrrha and Eomer let go, Pyrrha then started to laugh apologetically, "Guys… This is Eomer, the Star Knight of Mistral, he is my cousin, on my father's side."

Ren then realized, "King Theoden had two brothers, if they were your fathers… then that mean's King Theoden is your uncle."

"WAIT A MINUTE!" Nora shouted loudly as she raised her hands up, "You mean to tell me that all this time, when they called you 'Warrior Princess' they actually mean 'Warrior PRINCESS'?!"

Without even thinking, both Ren and Nora turned to Jaune and saw that he didn't seam surprised. "You knew." Ren asked.

"THIS WHOLE TIME?!" Nora finished.

Jaune started to give them a guilty shrug, "They made me swear not to say anything, what was I supposed to do? I didn't know until I brought her home…"

"Yeah, 2 years ago!" Nora said with a squinted face.

"If we told you back then would you have kept it a secret?" Jaune asked, "Ren maybe, but you?"

Nora's face relaxed, "Good point."

"I see your taste in friends hasn't changed." Eomer said with a bit of a grin to his cousin. "It's good to see you're ok."

"What's happening in Mistral?" Pyrrha asked as she pulled up her scroll, "We haven't been able to call anyone for days?"

"The CCT network is gone… Saruman shut it down; we're left with short wave radios and ground lines. The country is falling into shambles, we don't even know where to start fighting back." Eomer said with an angered tone. "Worst of all, our king is not himself."

"How do you mean?" Jaune asked with confusion.

"Saruman has somehow managed to control our uncle's mind. Peter Slate owns the capital now." Eomer said, nearly spitting at Slate's name. "He banished me when I spoke the truth against him."

"Slate? He's helping Saruman?" Pyrrha asked with shock, "He used to be so loyal…"

"Some loyalties aren't as strong as ours." Said a familiar voice that approached the group. JNPR was surprised to find Sun, Neptune, Scarlett and Sage among the Sky Knights.

"What are you guys doing here?" Nora asked with joy.

"Helping our Star Knight keep the country safe. Banished or not, he's our commander," Neptune answers as he pats Eomer's shoulder. Eomer gives him a quick glare that meant 'don't do that again' to which Neptune stepped back a bit.

Eomer looked to her with a sad face, "There is something else, Pyrrha… Theodred is hurt, fatally." Pyrrha gasped, cupping her hands over her mouth, she was too scared to even ask.

"How long?" Jaune asked, knowing it's what Pyrrha wanted to know.

"Not long…" Eomer said with a sad tone, "He's in good company at least, Eowyn is with him…" Pyrrha hugged him again, knowing that he needed it just as much as she did. Like Eomer, Theodred was like a brother to her, and now she was loosing him thanks to this war.

Giving them a minute of silence, Sun turned to Jaune and the others and asked the question that loomed over his head the most, "What are you guys doing here? I thought you were on a secret mission or something?"

Ren answered, "We were, but then a small hoard of monsters attacked us, Saruman's new breed of creatures that look like a mix of human and Grimm. We've been hunting them for over a week now."

"We've seen them, they're nasty." Scarlett said with a disgusted voice. "We killed them last night in a raid."

"Well, most of them. A lot ran into the treeline and got away, but we got the bulk of them." Sage added.

"That's not all, they took two of our friends!" Nora added.

"They have Weiss and Blake." Jaune said with a bit of fear, "Did you see them in the fight?"

Sun and Neptune looked at each other, then Sun spoke out first, "It was so dark, all we saw were Orcs and those other creatures. Are you sure you were hunting the right pack?"

"If you didn't see them, then maybe there's hope." Jaune spoke out before any fearful thoughts could fill their heads. "Where did the fight happen?"

Eomer pointed southeast, "Over that ridge, after we were finished we piled their bones and burned them."

After looking at his team to see that they were in agreement, Sun then walked up to Eomer, "Commander, if you would allow us, my team and I would like your permision to 'escort' these hunters to the location."

Eomer knew what Sun meant, who was he to stop a group of hunters from finding their friends, let alone stopping his own soldiers too. "Granted. Take two trucks with you. You'll need the wheels."

"Thank you." Pyrrha said to her cousin, with a smile. Eomer then kissed his cousin on the forehead and walked towards his troops.

Before mounting his bike he turned to Jaune, "Arc, when you look for your friends, do not trust to hope, it has forsaken our land." He then started up his engine and shouted, "We're heading south, men!"

The other bikes started and the trucks turned on. The Sky Knights and their Star Knight rode off, leaving the two trucks Sun was given to them.

* * *

As the two trucks drove towards the smoke stack that Eomer mentioned, Nora was pestering Pyrrha and Jaune with questions.

"So if your last name is the same as the royals, how did you convince them you weren't really a royal?" Nora asked.

"I told them I had the same name, but no relation." Pyrrha said with a bit of a small smirk. She was surprised that it worked for so long.

"Why did you keep your royal heritage a secret in the first place?" Nora asked next.

"It was bad enough I was a celebrity for my skill, imagine how alienated I could have felt if royalty was added to it." Pyrrha said with a bit of sadness in her tone. She would often imagine people figuring it out and she would feel even more isolated.

Jaune put his hand on hers, "Don't worry, Pyrrha… I'm sure I still wouldn't have known your name." Jaune said with a snarky grin.

"Just like how you kept missing all those 'subtle' hints?" Nora asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jaune then burred his head in his hands, "I thought we were passed this…"

"It's still funny…" Nora said with a smile that quickly disappeared when they arrived at the mass grave of dead Orcs and Uruks.

As they pulled up to the aftermath of the battle, they exited their vehicles. Sun walked up ahead of them to tell them of how it went down that night, "Prior to the fight we made sure our troops were on either side of the camp. We came at them fast and hard in the black of night, they didn't know we were on them until it was too late."

Everyone walked around, looking for any and all clues or signs that Weiss and Blake were there. For about ten minutes of searching, Ren checked out the pile of Orc and Uruk corpses, from there he pulled out a small metal hairpiece that looked like a snowflake. He held it out to the others, "I think this is Weiss' hair piece…"

Neptune ran over to Ren and took it out of his hand, from what he could tell by looking at it, it was bent from someone stepping on it and charred from the fire. The worst thought popped in Jaune's head, believing that they were too late he kicked an Uruk helmet hard with his steel tipped boots and screamed.

"AAAAAAAHH!" Jaune fell to his knees in grief. Pyrrha walked over to him and knelt beside him and started to hug him from behind. He raised his hands to touch hers, and as he looked to the ground, his hunter's instinct started to kick in. "Look, the ground…"

Pyrrha let go so that Jaune could scan the ground and recognized the shape of a woman in the dirt. "One of them was here…"

 **I'm using this boarder so that people wont get confused between present and flashback)**

* * *

Weiss watched as the motorcyclist rode right toward her with no sign of slowing down. She immediately rolled over as it passed by. Weiss started to move towards Blake as the chaos happened around them.

* * *

"They crawled." Jaune narrated as he was following their trail, "they had their hands and feet tied."

Blake moved for a dead Orc that dropped its axe and started rubbing her binds on the blade until it was cut. She then picked it up and used it to cut her leg binds off. Weiss came up behind her to do the same.

* * *

Jaune then noticed something in the ground that didn't look like grass, he pulled on it and it turned out to be the cut rope, buried into the ground after all the stomping and driving over it.

"They cut their binds," He then saw that they were running in more of random directions, most likely due to the battle. Jaune then noticed a set of boot prints that was following one of them, "Someone followed them."

* * *

Weiss was running with Blake but was then pulled back by her hair. She turned to see who was pulling to find it to be the Orc that tried to cut her earlier. It pulled hard on her hair, causing her braid to come undone and her headpiece to hit the ground.

Blake started to run towards Weiss, ran past her and jump kicked the Orc in the face, causing him to fall back hard. Weiss tried to look around for her headpiece but was stopped by Blake when she grabbed her arm, "Come on!" As they ran, the Orc got back up and started to limp after them, stomping on Weiss' hairpiece along the way.

* * *

Jaune started to see a straighter line that lead away from the battle, "They're leaving the fight here…" Jaune stopped right when he reached the trees, "Into the forest."

Ren, Pyrrha and Neptune's eyes widened with fear. "Fangorn Forest…" Ren said with fear in his throat, "They have no idea what is waiting for them in there…"

* * *

 **AN:**

 **AND THAT'S IT, for now.**

 **I hope you all liked this chapter, lot of story, lot of action, and a lot of new characters ALL ROLLED INTO ONE!  
I'll see you all next time with our next chapter.**

 **Have a Merry Christmas you all, and may the day be good to you.**

 **And as always, ARKOS!**


	15. Legends and Tragedies

**Legends and Tragedies**

* * *

 **AN: On to the next chapter in our hero's quest, I appreciate what you all said on the last one.**

 **Lets get one thing clear about this next one… a LOT of stuff happens in this chapter. I hope you'll all find it enlightening and exciting.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

 **(The night of the Rohirrim Raid on Uruk Hai.)**

Weiss and Blake were running as fast as they could, they could hear the battle still go on behind them as they were running into the forest. They kept running until they couldn't hear it anymore.

They continued to run until the sound was dim enough for them to feel comfortable. Weiss and Blake were both panting, trying to catch their breath. Blake looked around, "I think we lost them."

Weiss used both her hands to put her hair behind her face so that she could see. Now that her hairclip was gone, her hair was free and started to get in her face.

They then heard a loud rush though a bush and saw an Orc crawl though; he looked around until he locked eyes with the girls. He was the same Orc that wanted to eat them in the camp. He grit his teeth as he stared them down and started to run at them, "I'M GOING TO SKINN YOU ALIVE AND EAT YOUR INNERTS!"

Weiss and Blake ran right then, moving as fast as they could through the heavy wood. In the forest, no weapons, too exhausted to fight, all they could do was run or climb up a tree. Blake saw one that was wide enough for them to climb, "This one, climb!"

Weiss started climbing, Blake helped by giving Weiss a leg up. After that she looked to see if the Orc was still after them, but he was gone. "Where did he…?"

Blake then felt someone pull at her hair and pull her into the ground hard. Blake rolled over to see him bear his teeth at her. She kicked him several times in the chest and face, but her kicks were so light due to exhaustion, all they did was piss him off.

Weiss looked down in fear, "BLAKE!" Weiss then heard a groan, almost like it was a person's voice. She turned to face the tree and saw two yellow eyes open up from the bark. The eyes turned until they were staring at her in the eye.

Weiss exclaimed and leaned away until she lost her grip and started to fall, but then a large branch from the tree came down and caught her.

Down below, the Orc drew his knife and licked his fangs at Blake, "When I'm done, there won't be enough for soup…" Meanwhile behind him, half the tree's trunk came up and over the Orc's head. The Orc heard the sounds and looked up to see a pile of dirt and a tree stump over his head. It came down faster than he could react as it crushed his whole upper body like an insect.

"RUN, BLAKE!" Weiss shouted from the grip of the tree's hand.

Blake stood back up and ran as fast as her feet could carry her until she felt a large branch wrap around her waste and pull her off the ground fast.

The tree lifted them both up and faced them towards its face. It looked at them repeatedly and growled, "Little Orcs, bru-ra-hroom…"

Weiss' eyes went wide and her jaw dropped fast, "Blake… the t-tree is t-t-talking… Why is a tree talking?!"

"Tree? I am no tree. I am an Ent." The beast said as it walked with them through the forest.

Blake's eyes widened in joy, "The guardians of the forest! You are real!"

"Don't talk to it Blake, it's unnatural!" Weiss said in fear.

Blake looked to Weiss with a bit of an annoyed look, "After _EVERYTHING_ we've been though so far, you still think there are thing's that can be considered 'unnatural'?"

"It's one thing when it's Grimm or new forms of Aura, but this is just too much!" Weiss says as she tries to pull the Ent's grip off her waste to no avail.

"Treebeard, some call me," the Ent said as he continued to hold them in his hands. He was walking on a steady pace though the forest, which was surprisingly far for how slow he walked.

"I'm Blake Belladonna, and she is Weiss Schnee." Blake said, hoping an introduction would ease the tension; but Treebeard didn't care for their names, only for what they were doing in his part of the forest.

Weiss then felt nervous, she knew someone had to ask, so she did, "So, whose side are you on?"

"Side?" Treebeard repeated, "I am on nobody's side… because nobody is on my side, little Orc." He then gestured them towards the forest, "Nobody cares for the woods anymore."

"We aren't Orcs, protector." Blake said with as much respect as she could say, "She's a human and I'm a Faunus." Blake then pulled off her bow to reveal her ears.

Treebeard stopped walking, "I know about your peoples… I know what you people do… you are no different than Orcs. Always coming with fire, with axes, with metal; always breaking, hacking and burning. DESTROYERS AND USURPERS! Curse them!" Treebeard began to grip tighter on the girls, but stopped when it was proving to be too much for them to handle.

"Humanity hasn't cut down forests in decades!" Weiss tried to point out, she knew of some businesses that were in the lumberjack practice, "And even if they cut woods, we don't cut any more than we need."

"Orcs don't care, they are the ones who keep chopping down forests, not us!" Blake adds on.

Treebeard understood their points so he loosened his grip on them, "Maybe you are… and maybe you aren't." Treebeard continued to walk in the same direction he had been going before. "The Lady of Spring would know…"

Weiss and Blake looked to each other, "You think he could be talking about a maiden?" Weiss asked.

Blake then felt worried, "Or he could be talking about a Nazgul…"

Treebeard stopped on a grass hill and dropped the girls before two shadowy figures, one looked to be a man in white hair, while the other appeared to be a woman.

* * *

Meanwhile in the northern coast of Mistral, Gollum fulfilled his word in leading Ruby and Yang though the mountain pass and near the costal city that could provide them with the boat to get to Draco and Mordor.

"See? See? We've leaded you out!" Gollum motioned for them to follow him to see the city beyond the mountain pass. "Very lucky we find you."

As Ruby passed him, Yang walked up to Gollum with a serious glare, Gollum smiled, "Nice Huntress." And then followed behind Ruby.

There they made their way into town, buying a boat. They had to cover Gollum in a coat and say he was nocturnal Faunus that hated sunlight. There weren't many people in the village to care, so getting though and buying a boat was easy.

They sailed for less than a day before they reached the coast of Draco, once there, Gollum had them follow him northeast, close to the coast, staying away form the main road that Orcs and Grimm often patrol.

Yang was trying to follow Gollum she stepped into a bog, "Ah, we're in a swamp?"

Gollum stopped and turned to the girls, "Swamp, yes, yes." He then motioned for Ruby to continue, "Come, mistress. We will take you on safe paths though the mist."

They continued down the path he was taking, though the mist and though the terrible smell of the swamp. "I found a way though the marshes, I did. Orcs don't use it, orcs don't know it. They go around for miles and miles."

Ruby could see the benefit of this rout, if the Orc's don't patrol this area, why would the Grimm. Yang still didn't like it any better though, as she felt the swamp water soak the inside of her left boot.

They continued down this path for almost a full day, they took breaks when their feet got tired and then continued on when they were ready. Yang looked around and noticed something, "This place is weird. I haven't heard a bird, frog or crickets for hours… This place is dead."

Gollum groaned in agreement, "No, no birdses to eat. No crunchable birdses."

Ruby took out the enchanted bread and ate a few bites; she then broke off a piece and gave it to Gollum, "Try this."

Gollum walked over to it and took a bite, and than spat it out dramatically, "We can't eat human food!"

Yang snapped back at him, "Then starve, unless you can find a fish in the swamp."

Gollum squinted his eyes at Yang, "Nasty lady don't care if we die… she hates us!" he then turned to Ruby with a slight smile, "But mistress cares about us. She knows."

Ruby noticed how much closer he was getting so she slapped his hand, "Don't get too close!" Gollum backed off.

* * *

The trio continued their journey thought he swamplands as they were walking; Yang noticed fire coming out of methane pockets in the water. She then noticed faces in the water, thousands of them. This started to scare her.

"Why are there dead faces in the water?"

"All dead. All rotten." Gollum said with a very angry tone, "Humans, Faunus, Orcses… A great battle, long ago." Gollum then stopped to look at the girls, "The Dead Marshes. Yes, yes, that is what they call them. Don't follow the lights"

They continued to follow Gollum though the swamp, trying not to take the wrong step into the water. "Careful now, or huntresses go down to join the dead ones, and light little candles of their own."

Ruby looked at one of the faces and saw a girl; she had black hair and wore a white cape and hood. Ruby walked towards it and stood at the edge of the path, staring at it. _"No way… it can't be…"_

Yang looked back to see Ruby beginning to lean over the side, "RUBY!"

Ruby could get a good look at the woman's face, what she feared proved to be wrong, it wasn't her mother. But then she saw the corpses' eyes open, and she fell in, as if her body went limp.

Going in head first, Ruby could barely see anything beneath the swamp water. But then she saw multiple ghostly figures move towards her. One of them reached for her and almost grabbed her had it not been for two hands pulling her out of the water and onto the dirt path.

Ruby looked up to see Gollum panting hard from pulling her out, "Gollum?"

Gollum looked at her with an angry glare, "Don't follow the lights."

Yang quickly ran over to Ruby and helped her to stand, "Are you ok? What happened?!"

Ruby was still trying to get over the shock of it all, but she started to speak, "I thought I saw Mom…"

"What?" Yang asked.

"I thought I saw her… But I was wrong, and they pulled me under." Ruby said as she hugged on Yang, they held each other tightly.

* * *

They left the Death Marshes that night, and they were getting closer to the mountain boarders of Mordor.

As they were resting for the night, Ruby looked at the ring. It still had no effect on her at all; she felt no reaction to it like Gollum did when he saw it on her neck.

She then heard Gollum talking not far from her; she tucked it back under her shirt and looked up to see him squatting over a moss pile. "So bright, so clean, our precious…"

"Who are you talking to?" Ruby asked.

"Mistress should be resting, mistress needs to keep up her strength." Gollum says with a smart tone.

Ruby stood up from her sleeping bag and walked over to him, "Who are you?"

"As only what is your business, nothing else," He said as he began to cough, "Gollum, Gollum."

"Lady Maleficent told me you used to be a normal Faunus once." Ruby said as she walked closer to him, but he turned his head and started to speak the lyrics to some kind of song. "She said your life was a sad tale, one of tragedy." Gollum continued to 'sing' away her words and turn away, "You were a good person once, weren't you, Smeagol?"

Gollum stopped completely when he heard that name, he turned his gaze towards Ruby, "What did you call me?"

"That's who you used to be…" Ruby said with a serious glare, "It was your name once, wasn't it? Before you were corrupted."

"My name… My name, S-Smeagol." He started to smile as if he had been given the best thing in the world. Which probably was true.

 ** _SCREEEECH_**

Gollum looked at the sky as he covered his ears and squealed in pain. The loud screech woke up Yang out of bed, and Ruby looked up to see what was causing the loud noise.

"Nazgul!" Yang said as she stood up from her bag.

"HIDE! HIDE!" Gollum said as he ran towards a big bush nearby. The two girls followed with their bags and equipment so as to hide from whichever black rider came for them.

Overhead was Zyra, the Spring Harpy. She flew over the marshes and had a small wing of Nevermores as company.

"I thought they were dead?" Yang asked with anger in her tone.

"Dead? No, no, you cannot kill them." Gollum said with a very serious tone, "They are Undead!"

Zyra continued to fly overhead for a while, following some kind of searching pattern. But after a while of finding nothing, she and her wing of Grimm flew off down south.

Gollum poked his head out of the bush first and looked out at the fleeing Grimm, "Come now, Huntresses, the Black Gate is close."

* * *

JNPR and SSSN walked into the forest with caution. Prior to entering, Sun reminded them that during the night raid that some of the Uruks ran into the forest to hide, so there could be some waiting to ambush them.

Everyone paired of in twos, Jaune with Nora, Ren with Pyrrha, Neptune and Sage, Sun and Scarlett. They tried to spread out wide, keeping each other safe and in sight.

As they were walking though slowly, they followed several trails of footprints. Pyrrha came across a small splatter of black liquid on a tree bark. She touched it and felt how thick it was, "Grimm tar…" She wiped her hand on the bark and turned to Ren, signaling him to be ready.

They had their weapons at the ready, but they didn't know what was lurking in the branches above them. Just then a loud explosion happened between them, sending them both in opposite directions. They both quickly got up with the ring of the explosion in their ears.

Ren looked up to see it was an Uruk Hai warlock in the trees, using a fire Dust staff on them. He fired several more shots at them. Ren moved quickly out of the way as the fire blasted near his feet. Pyrrha moved, but was stopped when her eyes caught the flames in front of her.

She froze, her body unable to move as the flames surrounded her and engulf the trees above her. A burning branch was about to fall on her and almost landed on her, but Ren quickly saved her when he tackled her away. Ren got off her, "Are you ok?" Pyrrha nodded, snapping out of the shock.

 _Damn it, this can't be happening now,_ she thought as she tried to get back into the fight.

With the sounds of the fight happening, Sun and Scarlett showed up to help their friends with their pyro problem. The Warlock fired several shots from his vantage point, but Sun and Ren proved to be too quick for him to hit his target. Just then the Warlock felt something pull on his foot and pull him down from the tree. He looked down to see a grappling hook wrapped around his boot and being pulled on by Scarlett.

Scarlett pulled hard on the rope, but then he felt a dark presence behind him and drew his sword to block a large sword from hitting him from behind. It appeared to be a Marauder Uruk, who tried to get him from behind.

The Marauder drew back his sword and tried to axe down on Scarlett again but this time his blade was blocked by Pyrrha's shield. She quickly slashed the sword off her shield and then reverse gripped her sword to slash across the Uruk's neck, cutting its head off.

Meanwhile up above, Ren and Sun reached the Warlock, fighting with more melee combat, and quickly knocked it off the tree and down to the ground. As it tried to get back up it found itself on the receiving end of a gun, Pyrrha shot several times in it's face, then in it's chest until it disintegrated.

Ren, Sun and Scarlett all had the same thought, _"I'll never get her pissed off…"_

Jaune and Neptune's group ran to the others after hearing the gunfire. "Everyone ok?" Jaune asked as he saw the remains of the Uruks.

"Damn rats surprised us. We're ok." Sun said with a bit of a nervous grin.

As everyone was gathered there and reloading, Ren felt something coming, something powerful. "Jaune…" he said as he walked towards Jaune slowly.

As he got closer he whispered, "I think there's a Nazgul out there…" his whisper was loud enough for most of the group to hear him, but not too loud.

Everyone gripped their weapons tightly, Jaune then whispered to them all, "We have to be quick, or they'll use their dark magic on us."

Once they all knew the being was close enough, Jaune motioned first to give everyone the signal to attack. Everyone fired their weapons and ended up hitting a green barrier in front of them.

Before anyone had a chance to make an advance, the trees growled loudly and scared everyone into standing down. "They let you live to kill those Uruks, best not push it with more fighting here." Just then tree branches and vines came down and grabbed some of the people's weapons. One grabbed Sun's tail and picked him up off the ground.

Everyone looked up to see a woman walk over grass hill and stand over the group; she had short brown hair, light blue eyes, dressed like a bandit and appeared to have small vines wrapped around her right arm like a sleeve. "Lower your weapons, before _they_ get too angry."

Everyone started to resist from the vines but then they heard groans sound angrier. Jaune looked to everyone and how they were being pinned by the trees. Jaune motioned for everyone to back down, "Stand down, everyone!" Jaune sees that Nora refused to lower her weapon, "Nora, lower your hammer, now…"

Nora didn't want to at first, but she slowly loosened her grip and its head fell to the ground. The groans from the trees started to die down as everyone else lowered their weapons. The trees released the group, even letting Sun down and letting go of his tail. Pyrrha spoke up to the woman, "Who are you?"

"I am Vernal, the Spring Maiden." She then looks to Jaune, "Star Knight of Vale, nice to finally meet the you."

Jaune nodded, "Likewise."

Vernal then stood with her hands behind her back, "I have someone here who wants to see you." She turns to look behind her and allow a man to walk up the hill. He appeared to be limping up the hill, heavily walking with a cane.

Once he reached the top of the hill, everyone's eyes went wide and their jaws dropped as they saw the Headmaster of Beacon emerge from behind the Spring Maiden.

Jaune walked forward, almost disbelieving his eyes, "Ozpin? You're… alive."

"More or less." Ozpin said as he leaned on his cane to walk up the hill. He smiled at his former students with pride over how far they've come.

"But you fell?" Nora asked in confusion, "Khazâd-Dûm is at least 1,000 meters deep, if not deeper!"

"I did fall," Ozpin replied with reassuring tone, "Though fire, and steam."

* * *

 **(Ozpin narrating his flashback)**

 _"_ _From the deepest chasm to the highest peak, I fought the last Balrog of Morgoth."_

Ozpin is showing fighting the Balrog he faced in the mountain. His face was green with red eyes as he used his full power against the beast. The creature made green fire weapons like before, and used them against Ozpin.

It made a sword and swung at Ozpin as he jumped up high and used his green barrier to block the blade. He then held his cane in the air as lighting struck the shaft of the cane. There he levitated quickly towards the Balrog's chest, stabbing it several times with the tip of the cane.

Several spots of light formed on the beast's body as Ozpin made his way up from its chest to his head. Once he reached the head he shouted as he stabbed the cane right in between the beast's eyes, pushing the cane deep into its skull and releasing the lighting he gathered. The lighting that was placed all over its chest and head all ignited simultaneously, blowing up its chest and head into oblivion.

The lower half of the body went limp and the flames went out instantly after its head exploded. It fell from the top of the mountain it was standing on and tumbled over the side, creating an avalanche until the body was completely disintegrated.

 _"_ _After two days of fighting, I finished off my enemy and left his remains fade away on the mountainside."_

Ozpin is then seen falling from his high altitude, he tried to land at the roots of the mountain, but ended up landing halfway down. He landed right where the snow ended and the grass began on the mountain, but he had no strength to reach the green.

 _"_ _I felt my body freeze in the snow, my mind began to drift. Until I was found by two unexpected saviors."_

Radagast the Brown arrived and formed a barrier around Ozpin's body, using his Diamond Dust to warm him up. Vernal reached Ozpin and used her Maiden abilities of 'life' to restore his body as best she could from frostbite and hypothermia.

Radagast looked at his old friend with worry, as Vernal focused heavily on his chest, "I'm not sure if this will be enough to save him…"

"Fear not, m'lady. If he were human, he'd already be dead…" Radagast said with a calm and confident tone.

* * *

Ozpin looks at his students with a smile, "I'm back, because my mission has yet to be fulfilled."

Out of everyone in the group, Pyrrha remained to be skeptical. _"Despite all he went though, no human could have survived something like that… And if he's not human, then what the hell is he?"_

Ozpin then motioned for everyone to follow him, "Come, we have work to do." He started to walk towards the edge of the forest. "The first part of your mission is over, now on to the next. We need to go to the capital of Mistral."

"Mistral?!" Pyrrha asked in confusion, "That's two days drive from here, three if we run into Grimm on the main road."

Jaune walked up behind Ozpin and informed him of what he knows, "Mistral is falling apart, first with their king getting brainwashed, the prince on his death bead, and now with Eomer exiled."

Ozpin stopped when he heard about Theodred, he looked to Pyrrha with an apologetic glare, "My condolences." Pyrrha nodded a 'thank you' and then they continued through the forest.

Sun looked to Ozpin, then in the direction they were heading to find their friends, "But what about Weiss and Blake?!"

"So we came all this way for nothing?" Neptune spat with frustration, "We're leaving them in this terrible, horrid, dark, scum-infested…" Neptune stopped talking when he heard the trees start groaning angrily.

Vernal smirked at him, "They have ears, and they can understand you two, so watch what you say, tough guy."

"I mean, CHARMING! Quite beautiful, forest…" Neptune said in an apologetic tone while raising his hands. The groan of the trees died down after that.

"It wasn't just luck that brought Weiss and Blake here." Ozpin says with a confident tone. "The power of this forest, and many like it, has been resting for nearly a century. The arrival of Weiss and Blake will be like the falling of small stones that start an avalanche.

Nora then whispers to Ren, "Is it just me or does he sound more like a fortune cookie?"

"As if he never sounded like that before?" Ren whispered back with a wink.

"Something is about to happen, that hasn't happened since the last Great War… The Ents are going to march." Ozpin says with a bit of awe in his tone.

"March?!" Neptune said with a bit of fear in his voice, "Well, hopefully they're on our side…"

"Of course they would be on our side…" Vernal said as she walked past him, "Unless you did something to upset a tree lately."

Once they reach the edge of the forest, Vernal walked up to Ozpin, "Well, I did my part. Now if you don't mind, I have a meeting to arrange in the forest."

"What meeting?" Jaune asked in confusion.

"It's called the Ent Moot. One of the few jobs that is required of me, and one that I don't intend to miss!" Vernal said as she started to run back into the forest as fast as she could. She looked rather excited to go to this meeting, for whatever reason.

Everyone else walked back to the trucks that were parked outside the trucks and drove off towards the capital to the next phase of their mission.

* * *

Meanwhile, deep in the heart of Fangorn, Treebeard walked though the forest with Blake and Weiss sitting on his shoulders.

Treebeard walked slowly, not too fast for them to lose their balance, and not too slow to seem like they were traveling forever. Blake was very welcoming to seeing the world Treebeard walked them though. She saw some of the trees stare back at them as they walked past them.

All her years in the wild, never has she ever found a forest full of Ents. She grew up on stories on the Ents and how they aided the Four Kingdoms against Mordor. Blake then looked up at Weiss, who was on a higher stage of Treebeard's shoulder branches, struggling to bind her hair up back in a side ponytail again.

Problem was, without her crown comb, her hair wouldn't stay in place. She then gave up with frustration as she groaned and let go of her hair. She then looked down at Treebeard, "How much further?"

"Bru-ra-hroom. Don't be hasty, little huntress." Treebeard said with a serious tone, "You might call it far, perhaps. My home lies deep in the forest here, near the roots of the mountains. I promised Lady Spring and Lord Greyhame I'd keep you safe, and safe is where I'll keep you."

Treebeard then began to sing his own little song, he breathed heavily as he sang. After a while of singing, he saw that Blake and Weiss were fast asleep, finally getting some long awaited rest from all the 'excitement' from before. Once night fell, Treebeard set the girls down on a grass hill and walked off. "Sleep well, little Huntresses. I have business in the forest that requires my own attention."

He breathed heavily as he walked off, "I have folk to call, and many who need to listen. When the Ent Moot starts, all must hear our words. For a shadow lies on Fangorn."

* * *

Meanwhile in Mordor, Salem had another one of her meetings with her generals. Rourke Jadis were there in person, while Saruman, Radcliffe and the new leader of the White Fang, Umber Kahn, were talking though the mercury pool.

Umber was the first to speak in the meeting. He bowed down to his knees at Salem, "My Goddess… it an honor to finally speak with you. My only regret is that it isn't face to face." Umber Kahn was a jaguar Faunus; he had a tail that was black with grey stripes running down to the tip.

Rourke rolled his eyes as he crossed his arms, " ** _Stop being a kiss-ass already and give us an update._** "

Umber lifted his head slightly, feeling peeved by such remarks. But he calmed down and faced his goddess with a smirk; "I am pleased to inform you that the White Fang has gained strength in numbers lately. A lot more anti-human gangs have joined our cause. Our numbers have reached almost 10,000 in the last month, and continues to rise."

Jadis felt it was best to bring up something that Umber was clearly glossing over; " ** _Lets not forget about another development… Your sister, Sienna, escaped._** "

Umber's frustration with the Nazgul began to be more noticeable, but he continued to speak to Salem with the upmost respect, "Yes, she did escape…" He then looked at Salem with a devious grin, "And with her cowardice, she has proven to be just as a useless leader of the White Fang as Belladonna. With that, my position as the leader of the White Fang only has gotten stronger."

Salem was impressed; she smiled at her acolyte, " **Well done. And how are your troops fairing with the Grimm?** "

"It has taken time, but we have been using Grimm control bands to their greatest potential." Umber said as he held up his own, "Soon enough we will have enough troops to hit a kingdom."

Salem nodded, and then waved her hand for Umber to stand, " **Rise, my friend.** " She then walked towards Rourke, " **Report?** "

Rourke stood up tall, " ** _The war in the Kingdom of Atlas has escalated. The outer cities have been over run or fallen back inland._** " Rourke started to smirk, " ** _It's likely that the reason we've gained so much ground is because of Atlas' overreliance in their technology. Most of their droids and robots have proven to be minor obstacles against our War Beasts._** "

" ** _I guess Hades had some good ideas that still work._** " Jadis said with a bit of a chuckle. Rourke and Radcliffe laughed with her; despite being the one who reanimated them, they never liked him.

Salem was pleased to hear of the reports in Atlas, now she looked to Jadis to hear about Vale, " **What news from our theater in Vale.** "

Jadis' smile dimmed, " ** _Vale is under siege on all points of the compass. Grimm are in no short supply, but if you want me to take the kingdom, we'll need to put more force against it. Orcs, Uruks, or even Fang._** "

Salem nodded in understanding, " **All in due time, my friend. But for now, just have the Grimm force the kingdom to hide behind their barriers. If they are more focused on protecting their own people…** "

" ** _They wouldn't be able to help others, brilliant."_** Jadis said with smile.

Salem then looked to Radcliffe, " **Anything I need to know in Vacuo?** "

Radcliffe smiled, " **I am pleased to inform you that my old mine-fortress of Carn** **Dûm is back to full functionality. I will have the first shipments of Dust sent to Mordor and Haven within the fortnight.** " Radcliffe's smile dimmed as he continued, " _ **I have run into other complications though. A small band of freelance Huntsmen have been picking away at my forces.**_ "

Rourke raised an eyebrow, " _ **Need any help?**_ "

Radcliffe turned and gave Rourke a reassuring look, " _ **No, brother. What they are doing is minor for what I have planned.**_ " He then looks to Salem; " _ **There is nothing that they can do to stop what I have in store for Vacuo and Shade Academy. And soon enough, your grace, the**_ **Relic of Destruction** _ **will be in your posseion."**_

" _ **Same for**_ **Creation** _ **, when I'm done with Atlas."**_ Rourke stated.

Salem's smile grew more and more as the news fill the air, she then walked to the last member of her little dark circle and asked him, " **What news do you have to give?** "

Saruman stood tall and proud, "I am overjoyed to say that troop production is going ahead of schedule. We have already bred and armed 15 full battalions," Saruman couldn't help but shear his excitement over the success of his experiment and how it will easily bring him high praise from her grace, "Say the word and I can have 6 of them sent to you in a few days."

Salem was happy to hear of such information; she nodded to Saruman to send the troops. Atlas is under siege, Mistral will soon fall, Vale is too occupied to help anyone and Vacuo is practically in her pocket already. " **This war will prove to be a lot shorter than the last one. And when it's over, the** ** _true_** **masters of this world will rise.** " Salem then turned to face the window that looked on to the growing army outside her castle, _"_ _ **Enjoy the time you have, sister…**_ _"_ She thought with a serious glare, _"_ _ **Soon enough I will lay burn your 'golden city' to the ground and show you what happens to those who cross me.**_ _"_

* * *

Back with JNPR and SSSN, they set up a camp near the main road. There everyone gathered around a campfire and cooked a meal. Pyrrha saw how everyone acted around Ozpin, and she grew tired of everyone avoiding the most obvious question.

She stood up and looked at Ozpin with a very serious and annoyed glare, "No one else is going to ask, so I will. What the hell are you?"

Jaune looked at Pyrrha wish shock, "Pyrrha?!"

She looked to Jaune, "You know I'm right to ask, Jaune. Nobody could survive an experience like that, let alone come out without scars or loss of a limb." She then looks at Ozpin, who appeared to understand her frustration, "Well?"

Ozpin waved his hand for her to sit down, "Please, Ms. Nikos, sit and eat. I will explain."

Pyrrha was a bit shocked he was so willing to answer her, she almost expected a bit of resistance. She started walking back to Jaune and sitting next to him by the fire, "No more lies, half truths, or secrets. We've come this far and suffered enough."

"Indeed, you all have." Ozpin said as he stood up from his seat and walked out in front of everyone. He stood before them and looked down at the fire as he spoke. "By now, you all have been to Amazonia?"

Jaune looked to Sun and Neptune and saw them nod, "Yeah. We went there a few weeks ago under orders from Eomer. We met the queen." Neptune said with slight awe in his tone.

"Crazy to learn that my people have an actual queen," Sun said with a bit of excitement in his voice, "Crazier to learn that there is a whole kingdom under there."

Ozpin chuckled, "Indeed. Well, the queen, as you can guess, isn't a normal person. She and Salem are the daughters of Sauron and Midori, the Demigods of Light and Darkness." Ozpin then used his cane to move the logs in the fire to keep it from smothering itself. "After Sauron passed from this world, he wasn't aware he had another child on the way… his only son."

It didn't take a genius to know where he was leading their thought, but Jaune spoke first, "You?"

Ozpin looked to Jaune with a contempt stare as he nodded, "Midori, my mother, died after giving birth to me. Her last word was my name… my true name: **Mithrandir**."

Nora's eyes widened, she recognized the name, "The ' _Guardian Angel of Remnant_ '… said to be born with agelessness, to walk among men to protect them from Darkness." She then looks around the camp fire and see everyone stare at her in shock, "What? It was my grandmother's favorite story…"

Ozpin chuckled; it's been a long time since he heard that description of him. Neptune then asked, "How can you be born of agelessness? I mean, you're what, 40 years old?"

Ozpin started to laugh, "I'm a lot older than that."

"But you went to school with my dad." Jaune stated with confusion, "How did that happen?"

Right then they saw Ozpin do something that completely took their breaths away, his face went from being mid 30s to being that of a teenager. His voice also changed, "I wanted to experience the life of a student to know what I needed to improve on for a school system. Meeting your father was quite a bonus." He then changed his age again; he started to look a lot older, close to a 60 year old. "However for me, age quite literally a state of mind."

He then changed back to his mid 30s look, in the hopes to relieve their shock. Nora leaned forward with a grin, "Do it again…"

"NORA!" Ren exclaimed.

"WHAT!? That was awesome!" Nora said with a whiny tone.

Pyrrha snapped out of the shock, "If your real name is Mithrandir, where did Ozpin Greyhame come from?"

"It was a 'mask'. Before I was born, Salem made it clear to Maleficent that she intended to finish what our father started, to wipe out humanity. Given my appearance, Maleficent lied to Salem and said I was stillborn and ran." Ozpin then poked the fire with a bit of anger behind his strokes, "She ran straight to Amazonia. She gave me a new name and raised me to protect what our mother was meant to guard; life."

Sun then asked, "How much as she done for her own people then?"

Neptune was even shocked by this outburst, "Dude!"

"I mean, after everything our people have been though, she still hides? If she had only shown herself earlier, people like the White Fang wouldn't be dragging our people's name in the mud!" Sun said with anger, given what he's gone though fighting the Fang in Mistral, hearing this only made him angrier.

"She helped the Belladonna family found the White Fang to protect your people. But people like Siena Kahn and her brother Umber corrupted its purpose." Ozpin said with a very serious tone.

"And yet she still hides? We're in the middle of the Second Great War and she remains hidden in Amazonia." Pyrrha ask with frustration.

"I've seen her do more for the sake of her people than you would ever be willing to risk." Ozpin exclaim.

"Like what?" Sun asked, daring to know what she could have possibly sacrificed.

"She gave up a son!" Ozpin said after knocking the logs over and ruining the fire. He then saw that everyone backed up a bit after that. He sighed, "As much as she loved her people, she loved him more. And she couldn't stomach the idea of Salem or any other political rival using him against her, so she sent him away. That's how committed she is to the safety of Remnant and our people. ALL our people."

There was silence for a moment, but then Nora broke it when she asked, "What happened to him? Her son?" She was almost afraid to ask.

"He grew until he could take care of himself, I made sure of that." Ozpin said with a caring tone, "Now I'm not sure where he is. But I know he is strong enough to take care of himself."

"Does he know he's her son?" Jaune asked.

"He found out a few years back," Ozpin lowered his head, "It didn't go so well."

"Can only imagine why…" Pyrrha said with a blank stare.

Ozpin was a bit tired of her remarks, but this one was a well-deserved one so he let it go. He stood up and looked out on them all, "We, of the Order of Light, have done a great many things for the sake of protecting Remnant. But keeping you all in the dark will no longer be one of them. You have all shown great courage, loyalty, not only to each other but also to our people of Remnant as a whole. As of now, you all know everything we know. And with this war at our door, we must trust each other to survive it."

Everyone looked to be in agreement. Jaune stood up and looked down at Pyrrha, she nodded in agreement as well. Jaune then walked up to Ozpin and held out his hand to him, "Mithrandir…?" Ozpin then slowly grasped Jaune's hand; "You'll always be 'Ozpin' to me."

Jaune then hugged him with his free hand; Ozpin was a bit shocked, but then hugged back with his free hand. Once they let go, Ozpin then motioned for Jaune to come with him, "We need to talk about what to do next."

Jaune nodded, he then looked to the others, "Once you're all done eating, get some shut eye. Ozpin and I will discuss what the plan is when we reach the capitol."

At this, he got no arguments. Everyone finished eating and started laying out sleeping bags. Ren and Pyrrha took the first watch as Jaune and Ozpin walked out to speak amongst themselves.

Ren walked up to Pyrrha, "Can I talk to you?" She looked at him in a bit of confusion, but then she nodded.

They walked behind one of the trucks, putting it between them and the group. Once they were on the other side, Ren looked at Pyrrha with a hard look. "What happened in Fangorn?"

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked in confusion.

"In all our years together, I have never seen you freeze in combat like that." Ren didn't seem to be in the mood to beat around the bush, so he tried to get to the point as soon as possible. "You were a statue when that thing through fire at you."

Pyrrha could see that there was no point in hiding it any longer. She leaned her back against the truck and lowered her head, "Ever since the Spire… all that time with Cinder. Now, anytime I see fire in combat, I can't move."

Ren started to get concerned, "You're pyrophoric?"

Pyrrha quickly looked at him, "I can take a camp fire or a kitchen stove. But if an enemy were to use fire around me, my body… refuses to move."

Ren could see the shame in her eyes, "Jaune doesn't know?"

Pyrrha turned her head sharply at Ren, "No. And he can't."

Ren was taken by surprised by her being so secretive, "Pyrrha, this is something he should know!"

"He has enough on his plate as it is." Pyrrha stated with contempt, "This war, Ruby in danger, he doesn't need to worry about me."

Ren rolled his eyes, "Pyrrha, we face monsters that can control fire. Saruman is breeding monsters that can use dust. This is something Jaune needs to know!"

Pyrrha looked Ren in the eye with a serious glare he had never seen before, "I will tell him when it is the right time." Her face relaxed as she pleaded to Ren, "Please, don't tell anyone…"

Ren sighed; he leaned against the truck with a bit of frustration. He could understand why she wanted to keep this a secret, but given their current setting it wasn't ideal. "I'll stay quiet for now. But if it becomes a liability, I'll have not choice but to tell him."

"Noted." Pyrrha said with an understanding tone.

* * *

Jaune and Ozpin were talking alone at the edge of camp. From there they looked on to the broken moon, "It's nights like these that make me thankful for the light we have at night. For in darkness, evil festers the most." He then looked east, although he couldn't see it, he knew he was looking in the direction of Mordor.

Ozpin sighed as he states a fact that has been in Jaune's mind for a while, "Salem is eager to end this war, on her terms."

"As would any dictator or tyrant." Jaune says with a slight nod.

"Indeed. She has grown strong since the last time I faced her." Ozpin remembers his fight with her in Dol Guldur as if it were yesterday. Their fight was brief, but it almost finished him near the end. "Salem refuses to have a rival in this world, and I'm not just talking about me, or Maleficent…"

Jaune then felt confused, "Who else could possibly challenge her?"

"You." Ozpin said plainly. He then turned his head to look Jaune in the eye, "Salem has faced many opponents in history, Jaune, but only one has ever given her a reason to be cautious. Like Isildur, you are a 'Zenith Star Knight'."

Jaune squinted his brows, "I'm guessing that has something to do with the wings."

Ozpin chuckled, "It's a lot deeper than that, but that is one of the benefits to being one." He then looked back to Jaune, "To be one means you have a great destiny ahead of you, one that requires you to accept great responsibilities and face great obstacles."

Ozpin then looked out towards the grasslands ahead of them, "It is because you are still growing as a Zenith that she is trying so hard to wipe out the Four Kingdoms. She intends to wipe them out before you have a chance to unite them."

Jaune felt a bit nervous hearing that, _"Me uniting the Kingdoms… that'll be the day."_

"The first one that is ready to fall is Mistral, thanks to the traitor, Saruman." Ozpin's voice started to sound more infuriated, for years he trusted Saruman only to have him betray him out of self-preservation. "Saruman is using a magical object called the Palantir to control Pyrrha's uncle, King Theoden. It is one of the tricks of the object but he has corrupted its purpose for his own gain."

"I honestly don't see how we can break such a connection, unless you have some kind of ace up your sleeve?" Jaune asked with a bit of curiosity.

Ozpin nodded, "I know a way, something Maleficent taught me that can work." Ozpin looked back towards the east again as he continued, "With Salem preparing multiple theaters for full scale war, there in lies our greatest advantage… She isn't looking for the Ring anymore. She believes with all this chaos it will come to her, but instead it is going straight for the Mountain of Fire."

Ozpin could see the look of concern Jaune has for Ruby, "Don't let regret fill your mind over your choice. It was the best thing you could have done for her." Ozpin himself feels regretful that he couldn't be there for her anymore, but now he had his own mission. "Ruby must finish this on her own…"

"She isn't." Jaune said as he looked to Ozpin with a slight smirk, "Yang went with her."

Ozpin began to smile at the news, "Good… That's good."

Jaune then gave a nervous smile, "I just hope Yang doesn't get into too many fights along the way."

* * *

It had been a day since Ruby, Yang and Gollum left the marshlands. From there they climbed up a steep rock formation that acted like a natural barrier. They climbed for hours, and once they reached the top they could see the entrance into the Dark Kingdom. "There… The Black Gate of Mordor," Gollum said with a growl in his tone.

The gate was massive, built with scorched steel and carved stone. It stood as tall as 60ft high, 250ft across and 90ft thick. One thing was clear; nobody was getting in without an invitation.

"Oum, save us all…" Yang said with fear in her throat. "If dad knew we were here, he'd be giving us an earful fit for a kingdom…"

Yang and Ruby crawled on the top of the cliff side, trying to use the jagged rocks as cover as they got closer to get a better look. Gollum crawled behind them, staying behind Ruby and keeping his head down, "Mistress asked to see Black Gate, Smeagol showed her. So good Smeagol does, mistress says so."

Ruby turned to see how distressed he was for seeing such a scary place, "Yeah, good job." She said as she patted his head as he was ducking down.

Ruby drew Crescent Rose, but kept it in sniper mode. She opened up her scope and looked though to see the top of the gate. "What do you see?" Yang asked.

"I see Orc patrols all along the wall, the guard towers on either side have several windows and catapult placements." She looked closely at the guard towers and saw that there were several openings along the walls, small enough for an arrow or bullet to go though with no problem, "I wouldn't be surprised if those towers have murder holes for archers and marksmen."

Ruby moved her eye off her scope and looked to Yang, "I don't see any way past all that…"

Before Yang could say anything, they started to hear a chant down below. They looked down to see a column of Uruk Hai marching in parade formation. Just by looking at them they could guess there were thousands of them.

The troops were marching up to the Black Gate and stopped a few feet from the center. Ruby and Yang then heard a horn blow and then the gate began to open. A few Death Ravagers were pushing on giant leavers while Trolls were pushing on the gate doors to open them.

The girls saw the gate open wide for the Uruks, Yang crawled closer to the edge to get a better look. She looked down and saw a path that they could take to the bottom. "I see a way down." Just then the rock she was sitting on began to crack.

"Yang!" Ruby shouted as she saw her sister fall off the side of the cliff. Ruby didn't hesitate to follow. She slid down the side of the steep cliff that had gravel. Once she reached the bottom she ran straight to Yang.

As Ruby was digging Yang out, two Uruk Marauders saw the rocks slide down from the cliff and felt curious. They broke off from the main group and marched on towards the cliff.

Ruby heard their footsteps; she then started to bury Yang again. Yang would have protested but she heard the troops approach so she said nothing. Using her super speed, she was able to bury yang completely. She then buried herself next, and like Yang, she only buried enough of a layer to be hidden.

The two Uruks walked up to the source of the noise and found more gravel sliding down the steep hill. One of them looked down and decided to stab the dirt with his large bastard sword. The blade landed between Yang and Ruby, it barely missed them.

Just as the other was about to stab the dirt, they heard a voice call out to them, "Hey, mutts!" They turned to see an Orc shouting at them, "What are you doing over there, playing in the dirt? Get back in line!" The two Uruks looked at each other and then walked back towards the army.

Once they were gone, Ruby pulled herself out of the dirt and then went back to digging Yang out. Once they were both out they hid behind a bolder, they could still see the army of Uruks march into the gate. "You think you can get us in there without being seen?" Yang asked.

"Only one way to find out." Ruby said as she held onto Yang and prepared to run as fast as she could, but then she felt her hood pulling on her and pulling her back.

"NO! Mistress, NO! They catch you, they catch you!" Smeagol pulled on Ruby and had no intention to let her go. "Don't take it to _her_!"

Ruby could see the terror in Smeagol's eyes, he didn't want to go back, but he didn't want Ruby to go in either.

"She wants the precious. Day and night she wants it to come back. And it wants to go back to her…" Smeagol says with fear in his voice. He crawled past them and stared at the gate, his voice began to sound darker, "But we mustn't let her have it."

Ruby looks at him, "Is there another way into that place?"

Smeagol looked at the gate, then at Ruby, "Yes… yes, a secret way… a dark way."

Yang started to get suspicious, she grabs him by his foot and points her gun at his face, "Why are you only bringing this up now?"

"Mistress did not ask, I did not tell." Smeagol said as he raised his hands up.

Ruby grabbed Yang's hand, "What are you doing? He's helping us!"

Yang pulled her hand out of Ruby's, "He could be leading us into a trap!"

"If he wanted us caught, he would have let us go into the gate." Ruby stated with a serious tone. Ruby looked back at Smeagol, "How can you get in?"

"Mountains stretch all around that dark scary place… but there is a path that leads up the side, and into a tunnel that takes you inside the walls." Gollum said with a bit of fear in his voice. He had been there before, back when he was set lose by Jadis after his torture, he chose to go that way out of Mordor. It wasn't safe, but he knew it was their best option.

Ruby looked at the gate as it closed in front of them, she then looked to Yang, "Looks like we're going though the secret cave."

Yang didn't like it, but she nodded in agreement. Smeagol led the though the side of the cliff to be out of sight of the Mordor guards. Yang glared at Smeagol with a more skeptical look, _"I don't care what she says, if he crosses us, he's dead."_

* * *

In Haven, Saruman was continuing his daily routine of troop production. Sending those troops to Mordor was easy, now he had to keep up production in Mistral to keep his promise to Salem. A goblin worker approached him to him and whispered into his ear, apparently someone arrived that he wasn't expecting to hear from again.

Saruman walked out of his tower and found Alpha on his knees in front of him. One of the goblins kicked him, "Looks like our first mutt found his way back home. What do you want us to do with him, my lord?"

Saruman walked up to Alpha and raised his head, "You failed your mission, Alpha."

Alpha nodded, "I know, forgive me… We were ambushed."

Saruman slapped Alpha across the face, "NO EXCUSES!" Alpha backed off as if he were a beat dog. Saruman then knelt down to match his eye level, "But you did return to me, did you learn anything from the women you captured? Or did you even capture any at all?"

"We captured two of them, the girl with white hair and the one with black hair…" Alpha stated, "But then we were ambushed in the night… I believe I'm the only survivor."

"Getting here was no small feat. Nor is surviving an ambush in the night." Saruman stated true facts as he walked around the Uruk Hai at his feet. He then walked up to his head, "I may be willing to give you another chance, Alpha. Soon I intend to lay siege to Mistral with a grand army, I need a proper commander for that army and I know Locus trained you with tactics prior to your deployment. _IF_ I gave you this chance to lead an army, how much can you guarantee me that you'll succeed?"

Alpha raised his head and gave Saruman the most serious glare an Uruk could give; "I will fight to my last breath if I have to! I will not fail you a second time!"

Saruman smiled, "Good." Then his smile went away as he finished, "But if you do, don't expect me to give you a third chance…"

* * *

Back in Fangorn Forest, Blake and Weiss woke up from their sleep and were met by Treebeard. He picked them up and put them on his shoulder branches and continued their journey to the heart of the forest. "The trees have grown wild and dangerous these days. Anger festers in many of their hearts."

"Why are they so angry?" Weiss asked in curiosity.

"They hate how much the humans and Faunus use their bark to build their homes and burn their forests." Treebeard said with a sad tone, "Most aren't as awake as we are, but if they wanted to, they'd attack."

"I'm sorry." Weiss said with a heavy heart.

"Don't be… it's not your fault your people are like that." Treebeard said with a forgiving tone, "There are too few of us now, too few to manage them all. But we try our best."

"Why are there so few if your kind have lived for so long?" Blake asked in confusion. "Can't you guys have children like we do?"

"Ahhh… we haven't had any Entings in many years." Treebeard said with a sad voice over his deep breaths.

"Why?" Weiss asked.

"We lost the Entwives. When Queen Maleficent created our people, she created our wives as well. And we lost them long ago."

Blake and Weiss started to feel sad for asking, "Sorry," Blake said. "How did they die?" Weiss was hesitant to ask.

"They didn't die… We lost them." Treebeard said with a more irritated tone, more irritated with himself. "We cannot find them because we do not know where they went."

"I'm sure the Queen knows, if you ask her she can tell you." Blake stated.

"Hmmm… Perhaps, maybe when this is over I will ask." Treebeard said with a bit of hope in his raspy voice.

Blake looked up to see Weiss still struggling to keep her hair from getting caught on Treebeard's branches. Blake then pulled her bow apart, revealing her cat ears and then held it up to Weiss, "Here, try this."

Weiss took it, "Thanks!" She tied it into a bow, similar to Blake's normaly bow, and tied it up tight in her hair. Weiss now had her hair back the way she liked it.

Treebeard saw that Blake had ears, "Ah, you are a Faunus"

"Yeah. I'm a cat." Blake said as her ears moved a bit.

He began to chuckle, "I've always liked cats, they proved to be better than squirrels when it comes to how they treat the forest."

* * *

JNPR and SSSN reached the outskirts of Mistral. As they were driving, Ozpin's mind dwelled on the King; one of his oldest friends was in trouble and he was the only one that could save him.

Inside the capital, Eowyn walked into the throne room and saw the King sitting on his throne. He still appeared to be sickly; his hair was pail white and his skin looked old and wrinkly. "Your Grace, your son… he is dead…"

Eowyn walked up to him and held his hand; she knelt down so that she could get a good look at his eyes, "Your Grace? Uncle? Theodred… he's gone."

Theoden slowly lifted his head, slowly turning to look at his niece. "Will you not go to him?" She asked while trying to not cry.

She left the throne room and walked back to the chamber where Theodred's body laid. She sat by his bed, crying over his body. A man who she grew to love as a second brother was dead before her. She let out her tears like a waterfall. What only made this more painful was that there was no one there to mourn with her over her loss.

She then heard the footsteps of someone approaching. She turned to see Peter Slate.

"He must have died at some point during the night…" Peter said with a sad voice, "What a tragedy for the king, to lose his only child."

Peter walked towards Eowyn and knelt down beside her, "I understand. His passing is hard to accept. Especially now that your brother was exiled for his war crimes." Peter tried to rest his hand on Eowyn's shoulder but she brushed him off and walked away.

Eowyn walked straight out of the room without a word. She walked outside the castle and reached the edge of the main entrance. From there she looked on to the city below and see how quiet and glum it was. As the wind picked up she saw a Mistral flag get ripped off its pole, almost as if it signified the great kingdom's fall into ruin.

* * *

Outside the main castle walls, JNPR and SSSN's trucks drove up the main road. As Jaune drove the truck he saw the mistral flag get carried by the wind and fall onto the street and get covered in mud.

Everyone looked out the windows of the trucks and saw the people; they were sad and depressed. Nora leaned over to Ren and whispered; "You'll find more cheer in a graveyard." Ren replied by elbowing her arm.

The trucks drove up to the front gate, Jaune was more than surprised to see some familiar faces there. They parked and exited their trucks. Jaune saw Grun and his team, along with CRDL, standing outside the main gate to the castle.

Jaune ran up to Grun and they both locked arms with joy in seeing each other again. "Grun! What are you doing here?"

"I was asked to come to help Mistral in it's current crisis. Here to represent Menagerie." Grun said as he hugged his friend, he then pointed to Cardin, "Your sister sent these guys to represent Vale too."

Cardin walked up to the new arrivals, "I wasn't expecting you to be coming, Jau- I mean, Commander."

Jaune smirked at Cardin, "Relax, Cardin, you don't have to be formal with me." Grun then patted Jaune on the back.

"It's good to see you. I wish we had time to prepare for your arrival, but this is such a _grey castle_." Grun said with a subtle look in his eye.

Jaune recognized Grun's hint. It was an old signal they made up in the event that they couldn't speak freely. Whenever they were to say 'grey castle' it mean the location they were in was hostile, filled with enemies.

Jaune smirked and patted Grun back while saying, "I know, but we're here to help lighten things up."

Ozpin walked up to the two and smiled, "Grun, good to have you here. If you don't mind, could you lead us to the King."

"I can lead you to the castle, but you'll have to ask Robin Loxley." Grun said as he pointed at the wall behind him.

"Robin's here?" Pyrrha asked as she approached Grun.

"Yeah, he's in charge of the guard," Grun said as he motioned for them to follow.

The group walked up to the front gate of the main castle, Robin was waiting at the top with several honor guards at his back. Robin was happy to see Pyrrha, but had to keep his composure as a soldier.

As the group walked up, Robin spoke out, "Welcome to Mistral, Ozpin Greyhame. Unfortunately I am required to confiscate your weapons prior to seeing the King." Robin looked at the rather large group before him and felt that there were too many to be let in, "And to prevent any incident, I would ask only five of you enter, the rest must wait here."

"Under whose authority?" Pyrrha asked Robin with a bit of an angry tone.

Robin looked at her and gave her a bit of a sad look, then he made his voice more serious as he answered, "Under the authority of Peter Slate, the king's advisor."

Ozpin looked to the group and nodded, Jaune did the same and began to remove his weapons. He looked to the group, "My team only, everyone else just wait out here."

Everyone agreed while the rest of his team disarmed themselves. Jaune handed Joyuse to Robin, before letting go he looked him in the eye, "I'm going to want that back." He handed him his side arm too.

Nora was the one that had the most difficulty giving up her weapon, while Ren and Pyrrha were ok with it. Nora held on for a second while the guard was pulling on her hammer, and once she let go the hammer fell to the floor because the guard couldn't hold it up. The guards all looked at Nora while she smiled at them. Another guard walked over to the first one and helped him to carry it away.

A guard held his hand out to Ozpin and he gripped his cane tighter, "You really going to take a cane away from a cripple?" Ozpin leaned more heavily on the cane. The guard backed off, believing the bluff.

Robin handed off Joyuse to another guard and motioned JNPR and Ozpin to follow him.

* * *

As the group entered, Ozpin could see Slate sitting next to the King, whispering in his ear.

"Your Grace, Ozpin Greyhame is coming." Slate said as he backed away.

As the group walked into the throne room, they heard the door close behind them. They looked around and saw that there were few people in the room, mostly Honor Guards.

Ozpin spoke out to the King, "The courtesy of your hall is somewhat lessened of late, Theoden King."

Peter spoke into the King's ear again, "He's not welcome."

Theoden lifted his head and looked at Ozpin with a blank face, "Why should I welcome you, Ozpin Greyhame…" His voice was so raspy and weak, it almost sounded like a moan.

Peter leaned in, "A just question, my liege." He then started to walk towards the group as they approached. "As if you couldn't have come at the worst time, Headmaster. What reason would you have to come here anyway?"

"Shut up," Ozpin exclaimed, he had enough of the political BS people like Slate liked to use to play games. Now he was here to set things right in the kingdom, "I am here to help, and that's exactly what I'm going to do." He raised his cane's pommel towards Peter's face.

Peter showed fear as he gasped under his breath. He backed up, but then he stood tall and looked to Pyrrha, "Milady, tell me… do you stand by this 'offender'?"

Pyrrha looked to Ozpin and then back to Slate, "I am."

Peter then twisted his wrist, allowing what looked to be a wristband to fall down his arm and stop at his hand. Jaune looked down to see it, he had only seen such a band twice: once on Cinder's arm and on Locus'. _"Oh, crap. Grimm control band."_

"It's _treason_ then…" Peter said as he snapped his fingers.

Just then five figures came out from the shadows in the celling. They were Geist Grimm, and each of them was going into objects in the room. One went into drapes on the wall, one went into one of the Honor Guard's suit of armor, one got into a soldier's katana, one got into an Honor Guard's rifle and one got into one of the torches that were hanging on the wall.

The drape-Geist wrapped around one of the samurai's neck and tugged hard. Jaune ran to him and tried to get it off but found himself pushing it away from his neck.

The one that got into a guard's armor first punched a samurai that came up to him to try and help the guard. The samurai was punched so hard by the possessed armor that it knocked him into a pillar across the hall.

The possessed armor then started to lumber towards Nora. The guard inside the armor was moving uncontrollably, he tried to stop himself but the Geist proved to be stronger. Nora blocked one of its punches and punched back at the guard's chest, she heard him grunt, "Sorry, that was for the Grimm." Every time she punched the armor she apologized, she was fighting a Grimm, but didn't want to hurt the guy inside.

The katana-Geist pulled itself out of the samurai's sheath and swung around, slashing at the gaurd's chest before he had a chance to even react. Ren saw it point its blade at him and swing fast, he moved quickly to keep himself from getting cut but it was hard to keep away from.

The Geist that went into a guard's rifle pulled itself out of the guard's grasp. The guard drew his sword and swung at it but was shot threw the chest several times. It then pointed at another guard who ducked for cover as he returned fire. The rifle floated around, dodging the incoming bullets, but then it extended its bayonet blade at the end and darted forward at the guard. When the guard peaked to see what it was doing Robin blocking the blade with his sword quick enough to save him.

Pyrrha saw the torch Geist form a fireball and point it at one of the guards. She ran at him and pushed him out of the way as the ball hit at her feet. The guard was knocked into a pillar and was out cold. Pyrrha slowly got back up but then saw the fire Geist form a circle of fire around her, she froze like a statue on the ground. She knew she had to move but her body wouldn't budge.

Jaune was still pulling on the drape Geist but saw that he wasn't able to save the guard from being strangled. The drapes then tried to wrap around him completely, but before it could do that he through it at the fire Geist. Jaune quickly saw how Pyrrha was frozen in place as the fire scorched in front of her. It wasn't until the drape Geist was covering the torch that she snapped out of it.

Ozpin remained still as he allowed the team behind him fights off the Grimm, meanwhile he was charging his staff in preparation for freeing King Theoden.

The torch Geist burned though the drapes, forcing that Geist to leave the object it was possessing. Once it was out it tried to look for a new object to posses but was quickly shot though its head by a lighting Dust arrow and exploded.

Jaune turned to see Robin with his bow out; he nodded at him and then quickly blocked a strike that came from the rifle Geist.

Jaune then realized how they could win, "Force them to abandon their bodies!"

Nora saw the whole thing and then turned to the suit of armor she was fighting. She then got an idea, "Hey, buddy. Sorry to say this, but it looks like you'll have to lose the suit." She then charged at it, as it was about to throw a punch at her, she grabbed the gauntlet and ripped it off the soldier's arm. It threw another punch and she ripped off the other. Both the soldier's arms were free now, so she then continued to rip the armor off until she saw the Geist leave. It wasn't until she ripped the chest plate off that the Geist came out and tried to get at her, but then it was shot threw the head by an arrow and exploded. Nora looked to see Robin and gave him a thankful wink.

Nora then saw Peter Slate up near the throne, he began to look nervous and slowly walk into the back rooms. "Now I got a rat to catch," she said as she cracked her knuckles.

Jaune and Pyrrha were facing the now furious torch Geist together. Jaune saw Pyrrha freeze again as the Geist through a fireball at her. Jaune grabbed her and moved her behind a pillar with him as the fire blasted the pillar. He then looked to see some ceremonial weapons decorating the wall beside them: a disk shield and a Spartan spear. Jaune looked at Pyrrha with a serious look and said, "I'll hit the torch, you spear the Geist." Pyrrha nodded, "Give me a clear shot." They both ran to the weapons on the wall.

Jaune shielded them from the large fireball that came their way, then he through the disk shield at the torch in the center of the fire beast. The disk went though the fire and knocked the torch out of the center of the fire. Once it was out the torch was moving too fast for the fire to continue and went out like a candle. It hit the ground and the Geist came out, it was then stabbed though the head by the spear that pinned it to the wall like a nail. Jaune turned to see Pyrrha in her finishing motion after throwing a spear; he could see the warrior spirit in her eyes right then. He then squinted, _"Where was that spirit when that thing was burning?"_

Ren was trying his best to fight the katana, but he had no weapons to block it; then a bullet that came from behind and grazed him. He turned to see the rifle Geist point itself at him, he also saw a dead soldier that it killed prior to shooting him. The rifle then darted towards him and he dodged it as it impaled the pillar beside him. Then the katana came down and tried to cut his head off. He moved back and pulled the rifle out of the wall and tried to use it to block the katana, but the sword cut though the rifle like a knife though bread.

That Geist left the rifle and tried to find a new weapon to posses but was quickly nailed to the wall by another one of Robin's arrows. Robin then converted his bow into a sword and blocked the katana from hitting Ren.

Ren got back up off the ground and stood beside Robin as he was holding the katana off. "Katanas are weak behind the blade," Ren said to Robin. He quickly looked to Ren then back to the katana, "Give me an opening." He said as he pushed the katana off his sword.

The katana backed off and then stared to come at him in a stabbing way but was stopped completely by Ren catching it between his hands. "NOW!" he exclaimed as he felt the blade push towards his chest.

Robin came out from behind Ren and swung downward on the back of the katana, breaking it in half. Once the fragments hit the ground the Geist abandoned the body of the broken sword and attempted to find a new one. But the Geist was shot several times by the Honor guard that Pyrrha saved from being blasted with a fireball.

Everyone then walked towards the center of the room, looking around in case there were any more. Ozpin smiled, "I believe you got all that Slate brought with him… Speaking of him, where is he?"

"Someone ask for a rat?"

Everyone then saw Slate get thrown out into the middle of the hall and landed on the floor. Nora walked over to him as he tried to stand back up but she stepped on his back, forcing him to the ground. He turned his head to look at her and she smirked at him, "Go ahead, give me a reason to break your arms… or your legs, worm tail."

Ozpin then walked towards the King, "Theoden, son of Thengel, too long have you sat in the Shadows…" He continued to walk as he saw Theoden sit up in his throne, but he tried to turn his head away, "Look at me!"

Theoden slowly turned his head; he looked at Ozpin with his pail and hollow eyes. Ozpin then held out his hand and raised it towards his head; "I am here to release you from this terrible spell."

Theoden then began to laugh like with raspy voice, "You have no power here, Ozpin Greyhame…"

Ozpin then gave the king a very serious glare as he pointed the grey Diamond Dust shard at him and shined it's light at Theoden's face. The power from his staff pushed Theoden back against his throne; they could hear him groan in pain from it. "I will draw you out, Saruman, as poison can be drawn from a wound."

Ozpin blasts him with a grey colored light again, forcing the king to be pushed back into his throne hard. Robin felt uneasy seeing his king in pain, but before he could get closer Pyrrha grabbed him. She gave him a look that would have meant 'let him do this'.

Ozpin then shined more light on Theoden, but he was proving to be too stubborn. Theoden looked at Ozpin with a slight smile, "If I go, Theoden dies." Just then everyone heard Saruman's voice threw the King's lips.

Ozpin got closer as he shined more light on Theoden, "You couldn't kill me at Haven, and you won't kill him now…" Theoden then lunged at Ozpin as he yelled, but then Ozpin hit him in the head with the top of his cane and knocked him back into his throne.

* * *

Back at Haven, Saruman was pushed away from the Palantir and hit the wall behind him. He fell flat on his face, and as he was slowly getting up, there was a big bruise on his forehead. "Damn you, Ozpin…" he grunted.

* * *

The main door to the throne room was forced open by GMBL and SSSN as they busted in with their weapons out. They were ready for a fight but were reluctant to find the fight already over. Sun then groaned, "Awww, did we miss it?" Ren nodded in reply.

Just then Eowyn walked past the two teams and ran straight to the King, she didn't even notice Pyrrha was in the room.

Theoden slowly started to fall of his throne as he groaned. Pyrrha ran over to him as she and Eowyn kept him from hitting the ground.

Eowyn looked at Pyrrha, "You're here!" Pyrrha smiled back.

They both then looked to their uncle and saw something strange. He started to change, his pail skin stared to change back to its original color. His pail hair started to become golden with red streaks running down the sides. His eyes started to turn from being pail white to its normal green color.

The two girls started to smile as they saw him awaken from the spell. He looked at them both and began to smile back, "I remember you two… Eowyn… Pyrrha… My nieces." They both began to hug him, not too tight considering how weak he still was.

Once they let go, Theoden turned to see Ozpin standing behind the girls, "Ozpin?"

"Welcome back, old friend." Ozpin said as he leaned on his cane again, trying not to fall over. Using that spell took a lot more out of him than he wanted, but it was worth it to him.

More Mistral guards walked into the broken door and saw their king stand tall and strong. Many of them, including GMBL and SSSN knelt before him, as did JNPR, except Pyrrha.

Theoden looked out to them all, "For too long I have lived in a nightmare, not being in control of my own body." He looked down at his hands and felt that they were shaking.

"Your hands might have a better time remembering their old strength, if you grasp your sword." Ozpin recommended.

Theoden turned to one of the guards, and saw the guard kneel before him and presented Theoden with a long sword in a scabbard clasped in gold and set in green gems. The blade's guard was shaped like horses, to signify the days of old and a reference to one of the kingdoms of old. "Herugrim…" He said the sword's name as he gasped it with his left hand.

 **(AN: Part of that was a direct quote from the Two Towers book.)**

Once Theoden grasped the hilt, he pulled the sword out of the scabbard and held it high. He then looked onto the floor and saw Peter Slate, still being pinned by Nora's boot on his back.

* * *

Slate was literally thrown out of the main castle like a drunk at a bar by Macht from GMBL and Sage from SSSN. The two big men barely had to use that much strength to throw him; Slate was strangely light for a man of his size.

Theoden walked down the steps to the castle with his sword in his hand, gripping it tight.

Slate looked up at him, after falling down the stairs, he raised his hands up at the king with mercy. "I've only… ever… served you, your grace!" Slate backed away from the king as he continued to approach him with his sword pointed at him.

Theoden started to growl with anger as he spoke, "Your political games would have had me crawling on the floor like your pet!"

Slate continued to crawl backward, trying to distance himself from Theoden's blade, "Please, no!"

Theoden raised his sword up with both hands, ready to strike down the traitor, but was stopped by one of his nieces. He looked to see Pyrrha staying his blade, "NO, UNCLE!" Once she was sure he was going to stop she said, "Enough people died because of this backstabbing bastard…"

Jaune walked past them both and held his hand out to Slate, he didn't like him but he could be a potential informant over Saruman. Slate looked up at Jaune, he saw his cross necklaces and stood up on his own, "Keep away form me, Vale trash!"

He then turned around and ran down the main road, leaving the capital's populace in confusion of the sight.

Jaune saw the commoners walk up to the castle by the dozens. He then shouted, "Hail, Theoden King!" Once they heard the words they all knelt to their king in respect. Jaune turned to face the king and knelt to him with respect.

Theoden was happy that he was now free of the spell, but he wasn't one to revel over his status as king. He held his niece tightly as she helped him to walk back up the steps of the castle. As they were walking up he looked on to the guards and people who they were walking towards and realized something; Pyrrha and Eowyn were here, but where was his son. "Theodred…" He looked to Pyrrha and asked, "Where is Theodred?"

Pyrrha didn't know what to say, she ahead and saw Eowyn before them. She heard their uncle ask his question; and after hearing him ask, Eowyn shook her head at them as tears began to well up in her eyes.

Theoden's hear sank, "No…"

* * *

 **AN: AND THAT'S WHERE THIS CHAPTER ENDS!**

 **WOW, a lot happened in this chapter.  
Honestly, it was hard to find a stopping place in this one, but I felt that this was the best place to leave you off until the next one.**

 **We got to meet new characters, tell stories, and got to have more than one fight in a single chapter.**

 **Please leave a review and let me know what you think of the chapter overall.**

 **And as always, ARKOS!**


	16. A 'Pyrrhic' Victory

**A Pyrrhic Victory**

* * *

 **AN: I KNOW! I KNOW! This chapter is overdue, no thanks to school and work…**

 **Anyway; on to the next chapter, hope you guys enjoy.**

* * *

All of the populace of the capital attended the funeral of Theodred Nikos, son of King Theoden. He was loved by many of the populace and military officials; some thought he'd be the one to lead Mistral out of the war for his father. Now all of Mistral will mourn for the loss of their prince.

Pyrrha was sitting in Theodred's room, alone. She sat on the bed, thinking back to old memories of when they were children; she, Theodred, Eowyn and Eomer were all like brothers and sister to each other. Theodred was only older by two years, and yet Pyrrha tried to be his 'big sister' whenever she had the chance. Now he was gone.

Pyrrha heard a knock on the door and saw Jaune standing at the doorway, "They're waiting for you…"

Pyrrha wiped her tears off her face and stood up, her traditional Mistral funeral dress flowing to her ankles. She walked up to him and took the hand he offered her as they walked out of the room.

* * *

The Mistral cemetery was still and quiet as Theoden and Pyrrha, accompanied by the rest of JNPR, served as pallbearers and slowly brought the prince's coffin to its final resting place. The only sounds heard were the soft muttering of wind and the dirt moving beneath their footsteps. Once the coffin was laid on the pulley that would lower it into the ground, Pyrrha stepped up to the stand and cleared her throat, Eowyn standing beside her.

"Theodred was a kind and noble man," Pyrrha said, her voice trembling, "He was more than just a prince, or a brother figure. All his life, he only wanted to be able to fight and protect the people he was preparing to rule. One day he finally got to live his dream and went to help escort refugees to the kingdom, when they were suddenly ambushed. My cousin gave his life to make sure that those people got here safely, and I couldn't be more proud of him for that. My only regret is that we couldn't get here in time." Eowyn couldn't hold her tears back any longer and began crying, Pyrrha holding her close and letting her cousin vent. After a minute, Eowyn let go of Pyrrha and took a deep breath, showing that she was feeling better. With that, the two walked over to a small wooden stage where a band was sitting. Eowyn nodded to them, giving them the hint they were ready to sing their farewell song. After a minute of preparation, the pianist played a note as Eowyn and Pyrrha began to sing. After harmonizing, Eowyn went first.

 **(The song of choice is "The Soft Goodbye" by Celtic Woman.)**

 ** _"_** ** _When the light begins to fade_**

 ** _and shadows fall across the sea,_**

 ** _One bright star in the evening sky_**

 ** _Your love's light leads me on my way."_**

Jaune and the others were impressed at how well Eowyn could sing, and were taken by surprise when Pyrrha sang quite skillfully.

 ** _"_** ** _There's a dream that will not sleep,_**

 ** _A burning hope that will not die,_**

 ** _So I must go now with the wind_**

 ** _And leave you waiting on the tide._**

 ** _Time to fly, time to touch the sky,_**

 ** _One voice alone, a haunting cry_**

 ** _One song, one star burning bright_**

 ** _Let it carry me through darkest night._**

 ** _Rain comes over the grey hills,_**

 ** _And on the air, a soft goodbye_**

 ** _Hear the song that I sing to you,_**

 ** _When the time has come to fly._**

 ** _When I leave and take the wing,_**

 ** _And find the land that faith will bring_**

 ** _The brightest star in the evening sky_**

 ** _Is your love far for me?_**

 ** _Is your love waiting far for me?"_**

* * *

The people cleared out within an hour. Theoden was one of the last people left in the cemetery after the funeral was over. He turned to see Ozpin still standing there; he was a welcomed friend who knew he needed company now more than ever, so there was no reason to say anything. Theoden walked to the nearby flowerbed that was placed next to Theodred's tombstone and brushed his hand on the pure white petals. " _Simbelmynë_. For centuries it shed its petals on the grave's of my ancestors… now it will cover the grave of my son." Ozpin could tell he was just as angry as he was sad, "It should have been me… I was supposed to go with him but…" "By that time, Saruman took hold over you." Ozpin clarified. When heard what Theodred was doing prior to the attack, he could tell by the reports that the early stages of Saruman's possession were shown. And now they stand witness to the aftermath of their former friend's betrayal. Ozpin walked up to Theoden slowly and rested his hand on his shoulder. Theoden began to tear up; after hours of holding in all his grief in front of his people and guards, the king wept, "No parent should ever be forced to bury their child…" Theoden fell to his knees as he placed his hand over his eyes. "He was a brave man, and he will find his way to the Promised Land. I'm sure," Ozpin stood by his friend's side until he was ready to leave.

* * *

Hours later; Theoden walked into his son's room and found Pyrrha sitting on the edge of the bed, Jaune was sitting at the table opposite from her. Jaune stood up, "I'll leave you two to catch up." Jaune turned to Pyrrha, "Come and find me in the courtyard when you're ready to talk."

Jaune walked past Theoden, "Your Grace."

"Supreme Commander…" Theoden allowed Jaune to pass him as he turned back to Pyrrha on the bed. He walked towards her and stopped right at the desk. He brushed his hand across the table, looking at some of the papers and notes that were still in place since the day he left.

"I'm glad you were here…" Theoden said with a bittersweet voice, "He loved you like a sister."

"Remember my 14th birthday?" Pyrrha asked. Theoden turned to face her; he had little memories of that day. "It was when I was starting Combat School. They told us to gather materials for the weapons we were going to use when we passed… Theodred gave me a check that covered all of it…"

Theoden smirked; he nodded to that memory, "You were so excited, you kept jumping like a rabbit."

"I nearly tackled him with that hug," Pyrrha said with a bit of a laugh.

They both laughed for a second, Theoden then added, "He was happy that you were on your way to achieve your dream… Looking back on it now, maybe he should have joined you… That way he may have had a chance…"

Pyrrha stood up from the bed and walked up to her uncle and hugged him before he could say something else out of regret. Pyrrha rested her head on his shoulder, "None of it was your fault. I know that, and so did he."

Theoden lifted his hands and held her for a minute, "Your father was always the most compassionate…"

Pyrrha let go, "I had to take after him in some way."

"He'd be proud of what you've become." Theoden rested his hand on her shoulder, "I am proud of you."

Pyrrha smiled warmly. Once he let go she sat down on the bed as he remained standing, Theoden cleared his throat as he asked, "So, you and Arc… Are you official yet?"

Pyrrha rolled her eyes as she smirked at him, "No." Pyrrha looked him in the eye and saw something that she wasn't expecting; instead of interest or joy, he looked worried. "Why?"

Theoden pulled out the chair from the table and sat down, "I have unfortunate news. Now that Theodred is gone, you are next in line for the throne."

Pyrrha's eyes widened, she froze. "No… I can't be…" She shot up off the bed, "I mean, Eomer and Eowyn are at least 2-3 years older than me! How come one of them isn't next?!"

Theoden could understand her shock, "Eomer can't be a king; no Star Knight can ever be king. Eowyn may be older than you but your father was older than hers."

Pyrrha put her hands to her head as she paced back and forth, "This can't be happening, not like this… I don't want the throne!"

Theoden stood up fiercely, "It's not about what you want!" After realizing his outburst he took a breath, "The family line must continue, Pyrrha. You will become the next queen."

Pyrrha turned away from Theoden and looked out the window. He sighed, "I know you love him, Pyrrha… but your duty must come to family before yourself."

From the window she could see the courtyard and see Jaune talking to Grun out front. "He _is_ my family…"

Theoden pinched the bridge of his nose, not in frustration of her, more in himself. He knew she loved him, and that if she were to become queen, they can't get be married or have children together. A Star Knight cannot become a king, that is why the second son in any of the royal families becomes the knight, and the first-born become the King or queen. It isn't so much a 'rule' it's a fact; and if ever married into a monarch position, it results in the potential of said knight becoming a Black Knight.

The only known knight that ever married into the monarchy was Radcliffe Smith; it wasn't until he officially became king that his thirst for power started. It may have started for love, but it ended badly for all of Vacuo.

And what was worse, Jaune and Pyrrha were of different kingdoms. Nothing said such relationships were forbidden; however it just made the bloodline ties a bit more complicated.

Theoden watched as his niece gazed at her lover, and he knew that only a few words he just broke her heart again. "I'm sorry, Pyrrha. I'll let you be the one to tell him."

 **(AN: I know not everyone is a fan of plot twists, but there** ** _IS_** **a long-term plan for this.)**

* * *

Jaune and Grun were walking together in the courtyard. As they were walking, they were discussing some of the recent events in Vale and Menagerie.

"Cardin says that Vale is suffering a full scale Boarder War," Grun said with sadness in his tone. "Any boarder-town has been attacked, under attacked or wiped out…"

"I knew Vale didn't fully recover from the Reclamation… But this…" Jaune gripped his hands tightly, "I never should have left home…"

Grun rested his hand on Jaune's shoulder, "You had a mission to fulfill."

Jaune looked up to him, "How's Menagerie?"

Grun shrugged his shoulders, "Nothing too bad. The Grimm along the boarders haven't made any major attacks. So far people have seen it as a good omen."

"But?" Jaune added to Grun's sentence.

Grun sighed when Jaune called him out on it, "But I feel that it's only the calm before the storm."

Jaune cocked his head, "Is Menagerie ready for war?"

"John Smith has been making progress with military defense, I know he'll keep them safe." Grun said with a bit of optimism, "But Menagerie is _far_ from ready to face Full Scale War." Grun then looks out to the city and could feel the fear in the atmosphere, and if he can, so would the Grimm. "These people aren't ready either, Mistral won't united until Eomer gets back."

"Did you send the message?" Jaune asked.

"How? The towers are still down. Can't even get anything on the emergency channel," Grun said with slight frustration.

Jaune then got confused, "Then how did you get the progress report from Cardin?"

"An antique communication, 'Morse Code'." Grun replied; he was surprised that the ground lines were still usable.

"Those ground lines haven't been used for nearly a century," Jaune said with a bit of awe in his tone.

"Well, back then, things were built to last," Grun said with a bit of sass in his tone.

"Thank you, our ancestors," Jaune said as they both fist bumped.

Grun then remembered what else he needed to tell Jaune, "Sienna Kahn, one of the founding members of the White Fang, turned herself over to the authorities a few weeks ago."

"Really?" Jaune remembered hearing about her being in charge of the fang after Adam was defeated at the Spire, "So with her out of the way, would the Fang still stay together?"

Grun shakes his head; "She may have had power at first, but she became a figure head, someone to take the fall when things got more… aggressive." Grun's ears lowered in anger, "Her brother, Umber, was the true master behind the Fang's decent into chaos. Gira never did trust him."

Jaune started thinking back to when he last heard that name, "Umber Kahn… I think I heard about him once in my dad's files, something about being a Faunus zealot?"

Grun's ears lowered in with more fury, "A Faunus Supremacist, more like. His hatred of humanity makes Adam seam like a simple human-hater. Adam wanted to enslave humans out of revenge, Umber wanted to do it to 'put humans in their place'…"

Concern and fear started to go though Jaune's head, "Now he has absolute control of the White Fang… You think he'll side with Salem in this war?"

"It was his idea for Adam to side with Cinder, I wouldn't put it past him." Grun said with a hateful tone. Grun was reluctant to share more bad news, but Jaune needed to know this, "There's more: Corsac Albain and several other Fang members escaped Zartacla Prison a month ago."

 **(AN: Zartacla is "Alcatraz" spelled backwards)**

Jaune was shocked; that prison was considered the most secure in the world, no one who was ever put there ever survived an escape attempt. "Well, that's just perfect…"

Both continued to walk until they reached a bench that stood under a shady tree. Jaune's mind then began to fall back on a thought he had before. Grun could see it in his eyes, "What's up?"

Jaune snapped back to reality, "Not sure…" Jaune then had a strange question he felt he had to ask, "Hey, you and Yang share everything right?"

Grun squinted his eyes, "For the most part, I like to think we don't keep secrets. But we are, after all, human."

Jaune chuckled as he pointed at Grun's wolf ears, "Most of us, anyway."

Grun's ears lowered to his head as he chuckled back, "A few extra genetic markers don't make us any more or less human, Jaune." Grun looked at how Jaune's face went from a smile to a straight face quickly, "What's wrong?

"I think Pyrrha is hiding something from me… something important," Jaune said with an unsure tone.

Grun cocked his head, "Important how?"

Jaune thought back hard with detail, he's been going over it in his head for the past two days since they arrived. And he was never truly sure of what he saw, "When we fought the Geists in the Throne Room, one of them possessed a torch. And when it formed a ring of fire around Pyrrha, she froze…" Jaune looked Grun in the eye, "I have _never_ seen her freeze like that before. And the moment I knocked the Grimm out of the fire and gave her an opening shot, she was back to her old self…" Jaune relaxed a bit and leaned back, "I don't entirely know what to make of it."

Grun could see the turmoil running though him, "Have you asked her about it?"

Jaune shook his head, "No. She's still mourning Theodred." He stood up from the bench and turned to face Grun, "I think I know what it is, and if I'm right, I may have to sideline her."

Grun's eyes lit up, he stood from the bench, "Jaune, don't go making rash decisions. You can't just choose what to do with her before you even ask her."

"That's why I'm waiting until I ask her. And if I'm right then she can't keep fighting," Jaune said with a bit of a serious tone.

"You can't set a course of action that extreme without looking at all avenues, it might not be that cut and dry, brother," Grun knew that Jaune was trying to do what was best for her, but pulling her out of combat would cause tensions to rise.

Jaune nodded in understanding to Grun's point, "I know, but this isn't just about her, it's about the Kingdom. If they see another royal member die in front of them, all the Grimm in the whole continent will be gunning for us."

"Jaune, they already are," Grun said with a serious tone, "Don't let your fear decide your choices."

Jaune didn't respond to that statement, mostly because he didn't know what to say. Grun walked up to him and rested his hand on his shoulder and gripped firmly, "You, better than most, know that you shouldn't remove someone entirely just because something seems off. Did Ruby do that to you after Beacon? Both times?"

Jaune lifted his head, "Alright… When we get a chance, I'll ask."

"And at least hear her out?" Grun asked with a bit of a brotherly tone. Jaune nodded and smiled, Grun then let go of his shoulder and brushed his hand across Jaune's head.

Just then they both heard Nora running towards them, she stopped right at them and almost shouted, "The southern villages are being burned, and two survivors from Anemone's farms barely made it out to tell us. We need to tell the king."

Grun and Jaune followed Nora back into the main castle; this war appears to have escalated for Mistral.

* * *

In the Throne Room, the two survivors were treated with medical care and food as Eowyn got as much information from them as she could. She then walked over to the others with all the information the children could offer.

"They had no warning. The armored vehicles factory was severally damaged, same for the air-shipyard and the Dust factory. According to the boy, less then a day after the fist sabotage, the Grimm swarmed in droves," Eowyn said with sorrow for those who have died because they had no way of knowing until now.

"Eomer said that the factories in Anemone, Tustsuji and Saboten saw strange activity, but their factories sabotaged?" Grun said with disbelief, "How could that happen?"

"White Fang, most likely," Robin suggested. "After their attempted coup in Menagerie, they haven't been as strong in this country. They must have enough for just guerilla warfare, and the Grimm are just insurance that we can't get those factories up and running sooner."

"Where is Mom?!" Everyone looked to see the little black-haired girl cry out in fear. Her cousin wrapped his arm over her shoulder as Eowyn walked over to her.

King Theoden sat on his throne, listening to every word. Ozpin spoke up, "Whatever Saruman is planning for Mistral this is just the beginning."

"Something tells me he'll get more dangerous now," Everyone looked to Ren, he elaborated, "He had the King on a leash, now he's free. Salem wont take kindly to that failing, so Saruman is going to do whatever it takes to make up for it…"

"Like wiping out an entire kingdom," Grun concluded.

"We need to face him, head-on!" Pyrrha suggested, "If we face him on the open field, his forces will be distracted enough for our civilians to get to safety."

Theoden said nothing; he was weighing their options in his head. So far, none of them seamed good.

"Eomer is still patrolling the border," Jaune stated, "call him back and he'll muster more than 2 thousand to our fight."

Theoden stood up from his throne, "Call him with what? And besides, by this time he would be weeks away, we don't have that kind of time." Theoden looked around the room and looked everyone in the eye, he then turned to Ozpin, "I know what you want from me, but I am not going into risk my people. Mistral is not fighting in another Great War…"

Jaune stood out from his group, "The Great War has already started, Your Grace… Hide in this castle or fight on the field, it doesn't matter. People are dying out there, and we need to _fight_!"

Robin scoffed, "If I remember correctly, Eomer Nikos is the Star Knight of Mistral, not Jaune Arc."

Jaune gripped his fists as he stared Robin down, "No, but if I'm mistaken, you were the one who kicked him out?"

"I was following order from the king," Robin exclaimed.

"Orders that originated by Saruman and Slate!" Jaune almost yelled. Pyrrha grabbed his shoulder and stopped the argument before it could escalate further.

Pyrrha looked to her uncle, "What would you have our people do then, Uncle?"

Theoden could only think of one place that had the strength and the space to save what was left of Mistral, "We make for the Mountain Fortress of Helms Deep." Theoden then turns to Robin and the other Mistral generals, "Ready the airship-fleet, and evacuate the capital. Send word to all the villages beyond the capital that are less than a day's ride from us to follow, tell all others to scatter."

Robin and the generals bowed their heads and left the room to follow their orders.

* * *

The capital was in constant motion as the civilians were loading up into the airships by the dozens. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of airships in the air, mostly civilian and large cargo carrier-ships. The military fleet was less than 1/3 of the fleet, but they were adequate enough to protect the fleet from any attacks from the air.

Ozpin was walking with Jaune, Sun, Grun and Cardin as they were walking though the courtyard, they watched the fleet lift above the ground and hover over the capital like metal clouds.

"Helms deep, they run when they should stay and fight," Cardin exclaimed.

Grun rolled his eyes, "He's only doing what he thinks is right. Helms Deep has saved Mistral in the past."

"But that fortress is outdated, and its weapons are antiques," Sun added with a bit of concern in his tone.

"And there is no way out of that fortress; if it is to be under siege, they would have nowhere to go," Ozpin had been there before and saw it as a possible death trap, if anyone ever managed to breach the fortress.

"We could be walking into a trap then…" Jaune started to piece it together in his head, Mistral is ravaged hard and the people are forced to flee into a fortress that has no back door, a perfect way to wipe out a kingdom with one battle.

Ozpin turned to Jaune, "Theoden is strong, but I fear for him, and all of Mistral." He then looked Jaune dead in the eye; "Theoden will need you in that battle, Jaune. The defenses must hold out."

Jaune nodded his head, "They will."

Ozpin then walked over to an auto shop that had some spare motorcycles that Ozpin intended to use. He pulled one out and sat down on it, Grun looked at Ozpin's posture and felt he had to ask, "You _do_ know how to ride one of these right?"

Ozpin looked to Grun, "Who do you think rode the first one ever built?"

Everyone started to laugh. After settling down, Ozpin looked to Jaune, "I estimate I'll meet you all there in five days, if we're lucky, we'll be there by sunrise of the fifth."

Grun crossed his fingers, "Here's hoping."

"Good luck to you all." Ozpin revved up the engine and rode off down the street, making his way to the edge of the capital and riding out beyond the wall, heading west.

* * *

Meanwhile in Haven Academy, Peter Slate rode into the dark fortress and rode up to the tower that his master claimed as his home.

Saruman was furious at Ozpin's intervention and steeling Mistral's monarch out from under him, he growled in anger as he threw a table over with fury, "Ozpin is a fool if he thinks I'm going to let this deception lying down…"

As Slate entered the room, he explained what happened, "I summoned the Geists as you told me, but the ones who were with him, this team 'JNPR', they defeated the Geists."

"JNPR?" Saruman was surprised to hear that name again, "Ah, Jaune Arc's team…"

"You know him?" Slate felt curious if there was a story behind this.

Saruman rolled his eyes, "He is just a boy that was born lucky, nothing more." Saruman turned to Slate, "If I am to fulfill my mission to Salem, we must wipe out the remaining members of the Royal family."

Slate smiled, "And I know JUST how to do it…"

* * *

As the shuttles full of civilians lifted off the ground, they ferried the people up to the cargo carriers that were refitted to be Noncombatant Transports, NCTs. Meanwhile all the military dropships used some of the cargo-haulers to carry any remaining military supplies, weapons and vehicles they would need to help hold the fortress.

It may have saved Mistral from destruction in some of the wars of the Old Kingdoms, but its defensive armaments are severally outdated and/or obsolete.

The royal Flagship, _Sleipnir_ , hovered over the castle, there was a wide ramp that lowered down to the front gate and allowed the heads of military and royal family to board without trouble.

Theoden stared at his throne, Pyrrha walked up to her uncle, "The ship is ready, uncle."

Theoden turned to her as she was turning away, "Pyrrha…" She turned to look back at him, "This is not a defeat. We _will_ return." Pyrrha smiled back at him and nodded in agreement.

Theoden walked out of the castle and saw the ship above him. As he set foot on the ramp and walked up, Pyrrha exited the castle behind him. She walked on as well while waving her hand for them to take off. Half way up the ramp, as the ship was lifting off the ground, Pyrrha turned back at the castle as they were getting higher and then continued up the ramp.

With the _Sleipnir_ taking off, the flotilla of Mistral began flying northeast, for Helms Deep.

* * *

"Theoden knows that Mistral's capital city is weak," Slate had been an informant for Saruman for almost a year before Saruman did his magical manipulation of the king. He knew him better than anyone, "Thanks to the reports he would be getting from the rest of the country, he'll expect an attack on the main city."

"Where would he go then?" Saruman asked in curiosity.

"The only place they can go for sanctuary, or at least the illusion of sanctuary. Helms Deep," Slate said with a smirk. "They would take the airship-fleet, it would take them weeks to get there by land. The fleet would be forced to fly across the Great Lake of Anima, and most likely through the floating islands. They will be flying fast enough for the passengers to be comfortable; men, women and children alike."

Saruman began to smirk; this news couldn't have come at a better time for them.

Making his way into catacombs of the Tomb of Isengard, Saruman reached an open area with aviary Grimm flying around it. He approached an Uruk Hai that had Nevermore features, beak mouth, feathered arms and talon feet.

"Lord Saruman, to what do I owe this pleasure?" the Uruk asked with a grin, as best that can be made with a beak for a mouth.

"How many Hoard-fliers do you have ready, Theta?" Saruman asked.

Theta began to smile, "Three dozen Lancers, half dozen Nevermores and a full dozen Griffins."

"Good. I have a mission for you," Saruman then pulled out a small pistol and knife; the knife was made of obsidian, and the pistol had obsidian bullets. "Take these." _"Arc will be with them, what better way to make Ozpin suffer than to have one of his favorite students die for his sake?"_

* * *

Meanwhile in the continent of Draco, Ruby, Yang and Smeagol were following a creek that would lead them to their detour.

Smeagol was hopping though the water, trying his best to catch a fish as it kept slipping out of his hands. Yang felt that he was moving too fast and too far from them, "Hey, stinkweed, don't get too far ahead of us!"

Ruby squinted her eyes at Yang, "Why do you do that?"

Yang looked back at Ruby, "Do what?"

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Call him mean names, put him down all the time. Really, it's not like you."

Yang felt a bit sad that Ruby didn't see it from her point of view, "Because that's all he is, Ruby… He isn't here because he likes us, or helping us because he wants to… All he wants is the Ring, what do you think he'll try to do when he learns what we're really going to do with it?"

Ruby lowered her head, "Why are you so sure that he is nothing more than a creature of anguish?" She then lifted her head to look at him not far away, holding the fish in his hand, "There is hope for him, and I want to help…"

"Why?" Yang asked in confusion, "What has he done for us?"

Ruby gestures to their area, "He got us this far? If not for him, we'd be going in circles back at the mountains… And if not for him, I would have died in that swamp."

"It's because of him that we went into that swamp in the first place," Yang said with a skeptical tone, "A creature like him isn't one worth trying to save, Ruby."

Ruby looked at Gollum as he was panting in the middle of the river, "I have to believe someone like him can come back…"

"Why?" Yang asked in confusion.

Ruby looked to Yang with a bit of optimism in her eyes, "Because if someone like him can come back, then there's hope for the rest of the world… some of it, anyway." As Ruby walked off, Yang couldn't help but smile at her sister; despite all they've been though, she still has the some of that innocent look on the world.

* * *

That night, Smeagol and Gollum had a bit of an argument. The girls were asleep, so Smeagol had the privacy of his conversation with himself.

 _"_ _We wants it. Must have the precious…"_ Gollum snarled under his breath. _"They stole it from us, sneaky little huntresses… Wicked. Tricksy. FALSE!"_

Smeagol shook his head, "Not, mistress…"

Gollum didn't hesitate to scorn Ruby, _"Yes, mistress is false… She is evil! They both are evil. They will cheat you, hurt you, lie!"_

Smeagol shook his head, trying not to think of them that way, "No. Mistress Ruby is my friend…"

 _"_ _YOU DON'T HAVE ANY FRIENDS!"_ Gollum hissed, _"No one likes you…"_

Smeagol put his hands to his ears, "I'm not listening. I'm not listening."

Gollum spoke softly, _"You're a liar and a thief…"_

Smeagol turned his head, "No…"

 _"_ _ **Murderer**_ _…"_ Gollum spoke with a dark and demented tone; this was something that haunted Smeagol for decades, and decades more to come.

Smeagol began to start crying, putting his hands to his head, "I hate you… I _hate_ you."

 _"_ _Where would you be without ME?"_ Gollum began to growl, _"We survived because of ME!"_

Smeagol opened his eyes, as he came to the realization, "Not anymore"

 _"_ _What?"_ Gollum asked.

"Mistress takes care of us now… I don't need you anymore," Smeagol began to have hope in his voice.

Gollum growled, _"You will always need me!"_

"Leave now and never come back!" Smeagol spoke loudly.

Gollum was furious, _"_ _ **NO**_ _!"_ He growled as he pounded his hand on the ground.

"Leave now and NEVER come back!" Smeagol said with a bit more spirit in his voice. After a minute, nothing happened; he didn't hear Gollum anymore, he looked around as if he'd be right behind him but saw no one. "I told him to leave, and he goes…" Smeagol started to jump around happily, "GONE! GONE! GONE! Smeagol is free!"

* * *

The next morning, Smeagol ran up to Ruby with a pair of rabbits in his teeth as he dropped them next to her boots. Ruby was looking though her bag for food, and was happy to see that Smeagol brought them food on his own.

"I has food for mistress!" Smeagol said with joy as he took one of them and started to bite into it.

Both Yang and Ruby started to get disgusted by the sight of him eating a rabbit raw; Yang pulled the rabbit out of his mouth, "If you're going to bring us food, don't act like an animal." She then walks over to the other rabbit and picks it up, "If you're going to eat rabbit, you have to cook it!"

Yang and Ruby cooked the rabbits in a pot and turned them into a soup. Smeagol started to moan in sadness and anger, "Stupid yellow huntress! You ruins it!"

"What's to ruin? There's more fat than meat on these," Yang said as she stirred the pot. Ruby passed her some seasoning, even some of that salt that Yang brought from Patch. "Not a roast chicken, but this'll do."

"What's a 'roast'?" Smeagol asked in confusion, he had never heard the term before.

"Well, you take a chicken, put it in an oven, heat it up until it turns brown." Yang trying her best to sum up the steps to someone as uneducated as Smeagol, "And be sure to mix salt and pepper with it to make it more flavorful."

"Ok, who are you and what have you done with my sister?" Ruby asked in a bit of surprise, mostly joy.

"Ha. Ha. When I was in Menagerie with Grun last year, Blake's mom taught me a few cooking methods that I got down quickly." As Yang stirred the pot she smiled as she said, "She even told me a good recipe for red-velvet cookies."

Ruby's eyes started to sparkle, "Red-velvet… that's one of my favorites!"

Yang chuckled, "All cookies are your favorite!"

Meanwhile Smeagol was completely clueless to what they were talking about.

After they were finished eating breakfast, they continued their journey. As they climbed up a hill, they started to hear loud noises, large motor vehicles and the sound of large animals walking nearby.

All three of them got down and crawled under a bush to stay out of sight. As they watched down the hill below them, they saw a small army of soldiers marching; they were wearing a familiar symbol on their shirts and vehicles.

"White Fang…" Yang hissed in anger.

"Why are they in Draco?" Ruby was confused, there were no settlements that belonged to any kingdoms on the continent, why would there be an army this large here?

"When Adam led them, they served under Cinder." Yang remembered what Grun said to her about why the Fang were at Beacon during the battle. And now they serve a new mistress, "Now that both are gone, maybe they follow Salem…"

"But why are they here?" Ruby asked.

"They leaving Mordor…" Smeagol assumed; he's been around long enough to know when an army is regrouping instead of attacking. "Big black knight is gathering as many armies as he can…"

"Gathering them where?" Ruby asked.

"Atlas… Big Black Knight wants to take back his homeland…" Smeagol was referring to Rourke; he remembered when Rourke would often talk about taking his home back from the 'spineless fools' that own it now.

Yang gripped the grass beneath her hands tightly, "Whatever Vale is facing, Atlas is going to get the full blunt of it first…" She looked to Ruby; "We are so close to Atlas, here, with an army of Grimm and now White Fang joining… Salem has all she needs to cripple the kingdom in massive invasion."

Ruby's fear began to grow, "I don't even want to imagine what these guys are capable of if they are going to siding with Salem."

As if things weren't bad enough, they saw something else appear behind the hills. A pair of massive Goliaths walked along the army of White Fang troopers. On their backs appeared to be a large platform, big enough for 20-30 people to be on it's back. The Goliaths themselves were a lot larger than the ones Yang and Ruby have seen before. These were almost 3 times bigger, and their tusks were longer, more to the ground.

The 'platform' appeared to be made of metal plates that stood on the Goliath's back like a saddle; it had heavy armor plates for the passengers, machine gun turrets along the sides, and the front had a smaller platform just above the Goliath's head for a driver to stand and steer the beast.

Yang and Ruby looked with both awe and fear; Ruby couldn't help but say, "That is scary and awesome at the same time…"

"They still have their 'Grimm-control' bands… This is not good." Yang said under her breath with anger.

Just then they started to hear gunshots, several Fang troopers went down instantly, then the firefight started. Troopers started shooting blindly at the hills, some bullets almost hit Ruby and Yang.

One of the Goliaths started to roar as it was being peppered with bullets and dust rounds. One of them began to charge and escape the ambush, while the other ran in another direction, right for Ruby and Yang.

Ruby and Yang saw it was coming for them, when Ruby looked to grab Smeagol he was gone, with no trace. Ruby looked back to see the Goliath come right towards them. " **Fire Lily**!"

The two started shoot fire dust rounds in a pattern that, when looking from behind, looked like a flower. The barrage of bullets hit the creature in the face, forcing it to slow down, and then a glowing bullet hit the creature's right side of its head and exploded, causing it to turn hard left.

Ruby and Yang were surprised to see a Goliath turn so quickly, Ruby recognized that kind of explosion, "Jaune is here?"

Just then they both heard guns cocking and foot soldiers approaching. They surrounded them on all sides and had their guns pointing at them. "Make a move and it'll be your last…"

"Drop your weapons," said another soldier. Ruby and Yang complied, Ruby lowered her scythe and Yang dropped her gauntlets.

They were forced to turn towards the troopers and had troops pat them down; they weren't just looking for concealed weapons, but for animal traits too. Once they were done patting down, the girls saw hooded man with a sniper rifle on his back that approached them, _"Probably the one in charge,"_ Yang thought.

The man removed his hood, and looked to the other soldiers, "Well?"

"They aren't Faunus, Commander Faramir," Said one of the soldiers who was holding Yang, "They almost look like Huntresses."

"Huntresses, on Draco? Why?" Faramir asked the two girls. "The only reason anyone would be out here is to serve the Dark Queen or kill her servants… So which are you?"

"We don't serve that witch!" Yang spat, she hated the thought of someone thinking she worked for her.

"We are on a mission to help bring an end to her…" Ruby exclaimed, hoping it would get them to ease off of them. "We're all on the same side!"

"Are we?" Faramir gave them a skeptical look, "Whatever mission you are following, is over." He then motioned for the troops to grab the girls and take them with them.

* * *

A few hours have passed since the flotilla left Mistral's capital. Jaune talked with the captains of the fleet and organized regular squadron patrols. As big of a fleet as it was, it was vulnerable to air attack from any Grimm or otherwise.

Pyrrha was in her cabin, she was thinking deeply on what her uncle said. _"I am going to be the next queen… But that means I wont marry Jaune…"_ She gripped her hands tight, she didn't notice that the chair next to her bed began to crush under invisible pressure. _"It's not fair…"_

She opened her eyes to see the chair broken beside her, "Oops." She tried her best to fix the chair with her polarity, but it was clearly dented all over. _"I need to tell him…"_

Outside, on the main deck of the _Sleipnir_ , Jaune was contemplating how to confront Pyrrha about what he saw in that fight. _"I need to hear her out, how did dad say it? 'To keep something important from your partner in the middle of a life-or-death struggle isn't so much a betrayal, it's a failure of communication between partners.' Either way, I have to know."_

Jaune then heard the tap of Pyrrha's heals approach. He turned to see her in a bit of a sad mood, she could see that he had the same mood on his face. "What's wrong?" they both asked in unison, they chuckled.

"You go first," Pyrrha suggested.

Jaune nodded, "Ok, there's something I think we should address, Pyrrha."

She then started to get scared, "Does he already know?"

"During the fight with the Geists…" Pyrrha gave a near invisible sigh of relief, Jaune continued, "you froze when you were surrounded by fire… Are you pyrophobic?"

Pyrrha's fear came back as quickly as it left in only two seconds, "I… well," She lowered her head in shame, "Yes…"

Jaune bit his lower lip, he was hoping she was going to say 'no', "How long? When did you notice?"

She lifted her head as she answered, "I didn't officially notice until about a year ago…"

"ALMOST A YEAR?!" Jaune couldn't hold in his outburst, "I could understand if you discovered it a few weeks or months ago, but a year without telling me?"

Pyrrha was surprised he was being so offended by her reply, "I'm not _completely_ afraid of fire, only when we're in combat! My body just freezes up on it's own."

"In combat is the most crucial time to know if you can move, Pyrrha!" Jaune started to sound like a seasoned soldier yelling at a rookie, "Something like this should have been shared on the first day!"

"What's the big deal? I'm fine." She then gestures to their current setting, "We made it this far, didn't we?"

"Pyrrha, it's not about if we made it this far or not, it's about trusting each other in combat. I shared everything with you…" Jaune turned to the side of the ship and leaned on the railing, "Why did you keep this from me?"

"I didn't want you to have to worry about me," Pyrrha walked over to him and rested her hand on his shoulder, "You had the Fellowship, Ruby, the mission, Vale, I just didn't want to pile all of it on your shoulders."

Jaune shrugged her hand off his shoulder as he turned towards her, "But it's not just about us anymore, Pyrrha." He then points out to the fleet around them, "There is an entire kingdom around us on the run, and they just lost their prince. Imagine what would happen if they lost their princess when her partner failed keep her safe? Think of what your uncle would do?"

Right then, Pyrrha's mind went sour as she began to get angry, "Since when did I ever need you to protect me?" She was fed up with talk about royalty and her being a princess; all the drama that skep kept hidden just flooded out on this subject. "I protected you when you were pretending to be a huntsman in our academy days!"

Jaune began to get irritated, "I'm not just trying to protect you, Pyrrha. Mistral is on the verge of collapse in only a week, if we're not careful... And if they lose you, they lose their spirit."

"Well I don't need a ' _strong man_ ' to protect me, I've done well on my own since I was 10 and I don't need one now," Pyrrha said with a snarky tone.

Jaune gave her a serious glare as he exclaimed, "You got your ass kicked and declared dead for two years, are you sure about that statement?"

"Well I don't need YOU to protect me!" Pyrrha said with anger.

Jaune then just flung his hands up and shouted, "FINE!"

Pyrrha then stormed off, stomping her feet on the deck. She passed by a door and saw Ren, Nora and Grun standing behind it with fear in their eyes. She glanced at them and continued down the deck.

Grun came out form behind the door and looked to Pyrrha before looking back to Jaune, "God, Jaune, did you at least hear her out?!"

Jaune rolled his eyes, "Shut up." He walked away and made his way to the bridge, looking over holo-maps often cleared his head.

Nora looked to Ren and Grun with tears in her eyes, "What happens now?"

Grun crosses his arms, "I'll go talk with him, and you two talk with her. Something tells me that wasn't just about her combat problems."

* * *

Grun found Jaune standing at the very front of the ship, overlooking the waters ahead, in deep thought. Grun approached Jaune and stood beside him, "That was a train wreck."

"She started it," Jaune said with a childish tone.

"How old are you?" Grun asked with an irritated tone.

"Grun…" Jaune didn't want to start an argument with him but it was happening anyway.

"Come on, Jaune. I know you better than that!" Grun leaned against the rails as he punched Jaune's shoulder, "It was clear that she was aggravated by something else than you being too prideful."

"I wasn't being prideful!" Jaune almost yelled, "When I got her back, I swore to her and her family I'd keep her safe… And when I saw her at Theodred's funeral, I felt that she'd be a bit more venerable than usual for a while…"

"So you thought that the best way to protect her is to put her on the side lines for lying to you?" Grun asked in hoping to get clarity.

"NO! Yes? I don't know! I just want what's best for her…" Jaune said with a bit of sadness at the end.

Grun put his hand on Jaune's shoulder, "No one can survive alone, Jaune. And benching the woman you love out of desperation is the fastest way to die." Jaune still wouldn't budge, until Grun brought up something he hadn't in years, "My only regret is not being by Arianna's side before the end… You have a chance that was taken from me, don't let it pass you by."

Jaune slowly turned to Grun, "You cheated…" He didn't so much as smirk but gave him a 'you're right' glare.

Grun smirked, "Regrets weigh as heavily as any chain, brother… And they are twice as taxing. If you have a chance to alleviate yourself from them, do it."

Jaune might as well have been wound up like a toy soldier as he walked away in search of Pyrrha to apologize.

* * *

Two soldiers were walking though a corridor of the ship and then they heard a loud yell, "You can't MARRY HIM!?" Nora shouted loud enough for them to hear her though the metal door of Pyrrha's quarters.

Pyrrha held her hands out to them, "Keep it quiet, this ship's walls are thinner than you think."

Nora sat back down, "Sorry… But seriously, why would your uncle do that?"

"It's not his choice," Ren stated with understanding of monarchy, "In matters of the royal family, if the immediate family dies, the closest relative must take the mantle."

"So that was the reason why you freaked out on him?" Nora asked in slight hope, when she heard what Pyrrha said about Jaune she didn't want to believe she meant it.

Pyrrha sat on the bed and made a guilty look, "When he brought up what was best for the family… I almost felt he would side with my uncle if I told him, but I took it too far."

"You can still apologize to him," Ren recommended, "Grun is with him now, I'm sure he can convince Jaune to hear you out."

Pyrrha felt a bit more at ease, "Grun is one of the few people in the world that can budge though Jaune's pride." Not that she has too much of a problem with it, she often found him being proud against other high ranked officials to be cute.

As she walked past him, Ren recalled the last time Grun 'got through' to Jaune, "He doesn't much 'budge though' as he does 'break it with a hammer'." Pyrrha chuckled as she remembered the same thing.

* * *

On the bridge of the _Sleipnir_ , the radar operator started to see a haze of red specs east, coming out of the floating islands they were passing by. He zoomed in on the haze and found it to be a massive hoard of flying Grimm, "Captain! We got incoming!"

The captain of the ship and King Theoden approached to see what ensign was seeing, Theoden looked to the captain, "I want all civilian vessels to head to Helms Deep at top speed; _Sleipnir_ , three cruisers and a fighter squadron will be their escort."

"It will be done, Your Grace," the captain saluted his king.

Theoden then looked to the communication's officer, "Order all fighters in the air, I want all the remaining combat ships to wait here to engage them, we must hold them off as long as we can!"

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha were on opposite sides of the ship when they were looking for each other, but then they heard the same thing on the intercom, _"General orders, ALL HANDS, MAN YOUR BATTLESTATIONS!"_

Jaune looked around to see other ships with lights blinking red; fighter jets launched from hangers on carriers, dropships fitted with turret men lifted off large transports, he could hear fighters launch from below deck.

Jaune was standing near one of the docking platforms for shuttles, he saw Robin climb onboard. Robin saw Jaune standing there, "Arc, move it, we have a fleet to save!"

Jaune snapped out of his daze, _"I'll have to apologize after the fight."_ Jaune ran to the shuttle and walked on right as it dethatched from the docking clamp.

On the opposite side of the ship, Pyrrha saw her uncle walking out of one main structure of the ship and walked towards a nearby shuttle. Pyrrha ran up to him, "What's going on?"

"A Grimm hoard is on its way, we are going to make a stand here and give the fleet a chance to reach the fortress," before Pyrrha could say anything, Theoden motioned for her to stop. "You're not coming with us."

"But I can fight, Uncle!" Pyrrha said with bit anger in her tone.

"I am leaving you to lead the fleet to safety. Don't argue with me," Theoden walked onto the shuttle and motioned for the pilot to take off. Pyrrha watched as the shuttles and fighters stayed stationary as the civilian fleet moved on.

* * *

The remaining members of JNPR and GMBL hopped onto dropships as the fleet left them behind. Team SSSN and CRDL remained on the ship to help the escort fleet in case any Grimm stragglers made it though the blockade.

Some of the shuttles dropped off large anti-air turrets onto the floating islands, with them a few dozen troops were dropped off to stage machine gun sentries to protect the turrets.

Meanwhile all the fighters and shuttles with turrets were set up in defensive formations in the area.

Theoden landed on one of the floating islands that had a gun emplacement, _"Wait for them to be in our weapons range. We hold the blockade for as long as possible. Engage at will and stay out of our turret's line of fire,"_ He said on the radio as he stood by his soldiers.

Jaune was standing in one of the shuttles, looking out to see the hoard of flying Grimm fly though the islands, _"This is going to be a wild fight."_

Within minutes the Flying Hoard was right on top of the blockade. The sound of gunfire and throttling engines made it sound like a hurricane hit overhead. Aside from the dozens of Grimm being ridden into battle by Uruks. There dozens of Grimm, including some giant Nevermores and swarms of Lancers.

The fighter squadrons were having dogfights with the Lancers while the gunships were providing fire support for the turret emplacements. Some of the Grimm were fast enough to evade the turret's fire and land on the islands, enabling them to attack them directly.

Theoden and his men did what they could to defend the turrets; without them, this fight would end quickly. A few turrets were quickly overrun, so the few that remained had to hold out. Every hunter in the battle lashed out with everything they could in this fight, there was too much at stake to be holding any punches.

Ren jumped out from his shuttle and jumped onto a Nevermore and towards the Uruk rider with so much speed, it didn't react in time as Ren decapitated it. Ren then fired several shots into the neck of the Nevermore and then jumped off onto a Lancer.

Nora jumped off her shuttle, formed her hammer, and 'flew' though the air, with her feet on the hammer. She flew a few seconds until three Lancers intercepted her. She was forced to land on a small floating island; she then converted her hammer into its secondary grenade launcher mode and fired her "Heart-grenade" barrage, all three Lancers were blasted to nothing, and their riders with them.

Robin was on the ground with one of the turrets and saw four Griffons making a run for the turret he was protecting. Robin ran fast, drew four arrows rapidly and shot them two at a time; two hit separate Griffons that were in front of the other two and set them on fire, the last two jumped over the first two and were hit in the gut by the second set of arrows, they froze solid and landed on the ground in pieces.

Grun jumped from his shuttle and launched the blades on his gauntlets like grapples and latched onto one of the Nevermores. He pulled himself up onto its back and then kicks the Uruk of it's back. He then held his hands out and activated his gravity semblance to pull a few large rock along with him and then threw them at some of the Lancers that were flying by, and then pulled two more towards himself and jumped off as the two rocks crushed the Nevermore he was riding.

Macht could see a giant Nevermore destroy one of the turret emplacements and was now attacking the soldiers around it. He ran fast and hard and jumped with all his strength to the island below him. He used his sonic vibration semblance on his feet, giving him a bit more of a boost towards the island. He held his arms out wide and switched his knives into their whip mode; he landed on the beast's back and then slung his whips to wrap around the creature's neck. And with all his strength he pulled both whips and decapitated the Nevermore with one great tug.

Blitz and Leere were defending another turret emplacement that was being attacked by three Griffons and four Lancers that were coming up from under the island they were on. Blitz opened the parts of his tonfa to reveal the gun barrels as he starts shooting at some of them as they climbed over the edge and start charging at them. He then fired at the Lancers and damaged their wings, forcing them to the ground and as their Uruk riders jumped off to attack him he knocked them down with his tonfas with ease.

Leere moved fast and slashed at two of the Griffons that ran past Blitz and cut their legs and damaged their wings. She then converted her sais into their pistol form and shot the riders in their necks before they could jump off. She then quickly turned to find a Lancer rush her, she switched back to her sais and blocked the bug's stinger just a few inches from her face and was holding it there with all her strength. She then pushed the stinger up and over her head and then turned quickly as she shot it's driver off. Without a driver the Lancer went up on it's own but was shot down by the Turret the duo were protecting.

Theoden lead his troops with strength and true leadership. As he was protecting the turret nearby, a Griffon charged at him and tried to bite him. He held his shield up to block its beak from chomping down on him. After pushing it off, he quickly stabbed his sword down its throat.

A few other Uruks that jumped off their Grimm charged at the troops protecting the turrets. Marauders proved to be harsh in one-on-one fighting, while Marksman were proven to have earned their names. Marauders were merciless to the soldiers they encountered, it took two or three men to take just one of them down. Marksmen used their Grimm like gunships and shot at those on the ground to make it easier for the Marauders. Were it not for the other aircraft, they would have over run four turret emplacements.

The air battle in between the islands was fast and loud. Not just form the gunfire but from engines gunning and the loud clashes of wind resistance on sharp turns. The fighter jets were able to take on Nevermores and Griffons with no real problems, but the Lancers proved to be just as dangerous at high speeds as they were stationary.

Jaune ran as fast as he could and spread his light wings, using his 'need to protect' the people on the transports, he was able to fly fast and take on the Grimm along side some of the air craft. He flew up behind a giant Nevermore's back, drew his sword in Long-sword mode and stabbed it in the neck. Just then he saw several fighter jets in the air above him getting decimated by something moving fast, it was a Queen Lancer, and some kind of Warlock Uruk riding it. _"That must be the leader…"_

On the ground, Ren was trying his best to keep up with the almost continuous swarm of aviary Grimm. Just as he landed on one of the islands to catch his breath, two Uruks surprised him by jumping off their Grimm as they flew by. Ren blocked their blows and gunned them down, but then he felt a sharp object hit him in the shoulder. He hit the ground and found himself looking up at the head of a Lancer, it bared its mandibles at him and prepared to eat him, but then an arrow of pierced it's head from behind and froze it solid.

The Lancer disintegrated but Ren could hardly move, the stinger it hit him with injected some of the paralytic venom in his system. Robin was on one of the turret emplacements above where Ren was, so he made his way down to him to keep him safe as long as he could.

Nora flew more with her hammer and then landed near Theoden's position. When she was making her way, she felt something go threw her left thigh. She hit the ground hard in both shock and pain; she looked up to see a Griffon with a Marksman pointing its rifle at her. She quickly rolled as more bullets flew in her direction.

The Marksman was about to get a lucky shot off but his Griffon was suddenly pulled down by something. Nora could see Macht pulling the Griffon down with one of his whips wrapped around its neck, and the other around its left wing. He then tugged hard to allow the whip's blade to cleave the Griffon into pieces. As the Uruk fell from that height, it then saw Macht above it and grab on to it as they landed on the floating island. Macht away from the impact without so much as a scratch, "I've had better landings," he said as he walked away from the flattened Uruk.

* * *

Jaune followed the Queen Lancer in the air, it moved faster than the other Lancers and but was slower when turning. Jaune was still getting the hang of flying, so this became a challenge for him.

With his sword in it's sheath form, Jaune fried his pistol as he was chasing the Queen. Theta noticed Jaune shooting at them as they were evading his shots. Theta fired a bolt of lighting from his staff, Jaune missed it by a hair; he heard one of the islands behind him get hit with a powerful blast.

This was Jaune's first 'dog-fight' in mid air. Right now his main priority was just to follow his enemy and not get shot down. He continued to evade every bolt of lightning that was shot in his direction, while simultaneously trying not to run into any of the floating rocks in the area. As he flew above the Lancer, he fired three explosive shots at them but the Lancer banked sharply, dodging every explosion.

Theta fired a lighting bolt at the floating island above Jaune, as the rocks came down above him he fired an explosive round at the largest above him, the blast caused a lot of dust and smoke. Theta turned around sharply and made his way towards the dust, looking for Jaune as he flew into it.

As Theta and the Queen Lancer looked around, they couldn't find the winged knight. Just then Theta felt something land on the Lancer's back and quickly turned around to see Jaune running up its exoskeleton with his long sword.

Theta stood from his saddle and blocked the sword with his Dust staff; the Lancer reacted to the clash and started flying forward, to knock Jaune off.

Jaune lost his footing when the Lancer moved; he slipped off the side and barely had the chance to grab one of its lower legs. The Queen Lancer tried to accelerate in speed to get Jaune to let go, but his grip was tight enough. He quickly stabbed his sword into the abdomen of the Lancer; it slowed down in pain.

Jaune looked up to see Theta pointing the lighting dust at him and saw a bolt strike his left shoulder. Jaune lost his grip after he was hit, but he quickly spread his wings. Jaune drew his pistol and fired an armor-piercing round and broke Theta's staff into pieces, while also exiting though his right shoulder.

Theta quickly pulled out what appeared to be a glock pistol and fired several shots at Jaune, a few hit his armor plates but nothing hit his body. Jaune then flew upward and then sharply forward to tackle Theta onto the center of the Queen's back. Theta lost the gun full of obsidian bullets and was left with only the knife.

Jaune then swiftly swung his long sword to cut one of the Queen's left sets of wings; it quickly began to loose altitude. Before Jaune could react, he felt a pinch in his right side; he looked down to see a black hand stabbing a knife into his side. _"That black glass again?"_ He knew that blade had to have been made of obsidian if it was able to pierce though his aura so easily.

Jaune reverse gripped his Long sword and stabbed Theta through the belly. Just then they both lost their balance as the Queen Lancer and fell on it's back, the creature was skidding against the side of a floating island. They both looked to ahead to see it was on a collision course for a floating island with a large Gravity Dust shard sticking out of it.

Theta slipped off the queen and landed on an island that was below them, with Joyuse still in his belly. Jaune on the other hand got back up and jumped off the lancer and tried to spread his wings but nothing happened. As he was falling he turned to see the knife still in his side, with the wind resistance and him freefalling rapidly, he tried to reach for the knife.

Above him he heard a loud explosion of the lancer clashing with the dust shard above and then suddenly he was engulfed by the smoke and debris of the island's destruction.

* * *

Back at the civilian fleet, Pyrrha watched the whole battle play out on the radar screen. There was no clear reading on whom among all the allied dots on the screen were, but she was able to make out the hunters by how fast they moved. Just then they saw explosion on the radar, "What was that?"

"Could have been one of the Gravity Dust igniting, princess," the ensign said with an unclear tone. "I've seen dust explode on screen before, but none as big as that…"

* * *

With that explosion and the loss of their leader, the remaining Uruks and Grimm fled the battle out of self-preservation. Those that were left behind were quickly dealt with by the hunters and surviving soldiers.

As the fighting died down, some of the shuttles settled down near the turret emplacements and picked up the soldiers and the wounded. As Grun got onboard he tapped his comlink, "Hunter head count, sound off."

" _Nora, here, Ren's here too but he can't move too well._ " " _This is Blitz, Leere and I are ok._ " " _Macht, here, helping Nora get Ren on the shuttle._ "

Grun waited for a second and didn't hear Jaune respond, "Jaune, do you read?" For a few seconds there was no answer, "Anyone got eyes on Jaune?"

Grun heard Macht speak up on the radio, " _Last I saw of him, he was chasing that Queen Lancer near where that explosion happened._ "

Grun turned and ran to the cockpit of the shuttle, "Pilot, get me to that smokestack NOW!" The pilot did not hesitate to follow the orders of the hunter that helped them.

Nora's shuttle flew along side Grun's and followed them to the smokestack. As they flew close to the smoke, Grun spotted a figure moving on a nearby island in a trail of black liquid and a white object though it's body.

The shuttles landed, Grun and Nora made their way to what appeared to be an Uruk that they saw from up high. Nora more or less limped with Grun helping her, as they reached the Uruk, Grun pushed the Uruk on it's side to get him to look at them.

Grun let go of Nora so that he could extend his claws from his gauntlet and place their edges against Theta's neck, "Tell me where the owner of that sword is, and I'll make your death quick."

Theta vomited some blood and coughed loudly, he then started to chuckle under his breath, "He's… dead. If it wasn't the explosion, then hitting the water would have finished him…" he continued to laugh under his throat.

Grun removed the blade from Theta's neck and slashed a bit of Theta's chest in anger, "Tell me the truth, you little prick!"

With all the pain and loss of blood, Theta went silent and then went limp. Before they knew it, his body began to dissolve, leaving a human skeleton behind and a puddle of black goop. Grun picked Joyuse and pressed the button to change the sheath back into standby mode.

Another shuttle landed near the two, King Theoden exited and saw Grun and Nora stair at the smokestack. He could tell they were trying to see if they could find Jaune in the smoke or in the water below, but they couldn't see anything.

Theoden talked into his radio on all frequencies, "All ships, collect the survivors and recover any and all equipment we can still use… leave the dead."

Grun turned to glare at Theoden, he could see that he meant what he said and had no intention of changing his mind. Before he could even start an argument, Grun felt Macht grab his shoulder, "Come on, boss… we have to go."

Grun turned back to Nora who was staring at the smokestack; Nora didn't say anything, not even when she began to limp back to the shuttle with the help of Macht.

* * *

Back with the civilian fleet, the _Sleipnir_ lead the ships to the mountains and could see the fortress of Helms Deep. The captain addressed Pyrrha, "Princess, we are making our final approach."

As they got closer, Pyrrha was amazed how large the fortress was to the ships. She could see smaller ships already there, "Captian?" She was confused; originally she thought they'd get there first.

"Other's who heard King Theoden's call to come here in the time he gave us: Shion, Marigold and Larkspur village," the captain then turned to the helmsmen, "Bring us into the mountain, lieutenant."

As the fleet moved above the fortress, the mountains behind it began to open up several large doors to reveal large hanger bays for ships of their size. As the ships landed the people onboard disembarked and went on to carry out their duties in the mountain fortress.

Pyrrha walked off the ramp and heard on a soldier's radio that the King and the survivors from the blockade are about to land. She quickly ran to the next landing field they were going to land in.

As the shuttles landed, Pyrrha saw her uncle get off first. He started making his way to the command center from there and was met by Pyrrha, "My god, there are so few of you…"

Theoden stopped and looked her in the eye, "Our people our safe, many brave men and women paid for it with their lives…" He wasn't scolding her; he just hated losing people in battle, as would any commander.

Nora was limping along side Ren, who was on a gurney, he was awake but his body wouldn't move. Pyrrha ran up to them, "Ren are you ok?"

"He'll be alright." Said the medic, "Once in the medical clinic we can give him the antivenom, he'll be right as rain within a day."

Nora pulled aside to be placed on a wheelchair as they took her to get her leg treated; Nora was even given a chance to speak to Pyrrha, but when she saw that Grun was walking up to her, she knew Pyrrha would get the news.

Grun walked up to Pyrrha, she turned to see him standing there, holding Jaune's sword in his hand. "Where's Jaune…?"

Grun gripped the sheath tight, "We couldn't find him…"

Pyrrha didn't even think, she just stood there for what felt like an hour. She then quickly turned and ran as fast as she could after King Theoden. Grun ran after but since he was still worn out from the fight earlier, she ran faster.

* * *

Pyrrha barged into the command center; she saw her uncle and Robin discussing what to do next on the holo-map. "We are going to find him!"

Theoden looked to her, "By the time we knew he was gone, there was no sign of him. Searching for him now would only dwindle what resources we have left."

"Besides, our focus must be on the safety of our people over the life of one man," Robin said with his arms crossed.

"That man saved you, saved EVERYONE HERE from Saruman's control over our king!" Pyrrha practicaly shouted at the top of her lungs.

Theoden walked around the table to walk up to his niece, "I understand your frustration but he made his choice, Pyrrha. He knew what he was getting into when he joined in the defense."

"Well I'm not going to just abandon him!" she turned around and walked towards the door.

"You aren't going anywhere, I FORBID IT!" Theoden ordered with slight rage.

Pyrrha stopped and gave her uncle a glare, "Try and stop me." Just as she turned around the guards at the door closed their swords in front of her. She stopped and gave them both a very serious and scary glare. They both reluctantly removed their swords and let her pass.

* * *

In one of the garages in the fortress, Pyrrha was preparing a four-wheeler for a long trip, and then she was approached from behind. She turned to see Grun standing there, "If you're here to talk me out of it, don't waist your breath."

"On the contrary, we're going with you," Grun said with a serious tone.

Pyrrha turned around to face him, "You're needed more here, Grun. I have to do this on my own."

Grun slightly chuckled, "Now that's a load…" he then gave her a serious glare that even made her sweat bullets, "Look, I've known him since he was 12, and hell will freeze over before I out live him."

Pyrrha then gave him a nervous smile, "Ok…"

Grun smiled and walked off to go and order a truck. Pyrrha saw the others walk up to her and whispered to them, "And here I thought being betrothed to Yang would have made him calmer…"

All three of Grun's teammates looked to each other, then Leere spoke up, "Are you kidding? That _is_ him being calmer."

"When before, he would have just knocked you out at the start of the argument and put you in the truck with us," Blitz said with a nervous chuckle, the others agreed with him.

* * *

The main gate to Helms Deep opened up and a four-wheeler bike and an armored tuck drove off down the causeway.

Pyrrha and Grun both though the same thing as they throttled their engines down the causeway, "Hang on, Jaune."

* * *

 **AN: AND THERE YOU HAVE IT!**

 **After two months of work, school and people whining about me being too late to post, here is the newest chapter…**

 **I hope it is satisfactory, a lot of stuff happened at once, but I wanted the chapter to be more meaningful to have all this stuff happen.**

 **Have a happy Spring Break everyone, and as always ARKOS!**


	17. The Sun Sets

**The Sun Sets**

* * *

 **AN: I'M BACK! I'm glad to say that Finals are FINALY over (By the time I started writing this chapter)**

 **I will try my best to not take forever between chapters.**

* * *

The explosion shockwave hit Jaune's back like a steel door slamming into him. The blast wave knocked the obsidian dagger out of his leg, which gave him the opportunity to extend his wings out and fly his way though the falling debris from the floating island. He flew as fast and as hard as he could until he was clear of the debris. His wings glowed brighter and shot him forward in a burst of speed, leaving a brief trail of light as he flew.

Once he was clear from the debris he started to fall in and out of consciousness, he lost track of time, he wasn't sure if he had been flying for one minute or ten between eye blinks. He just knew that he was getting closer to a coastline in the Grand Lake of Anima, he just didn't know which one, or for that matter which direction on a compass point he was going.

His wings were fading as he was loosing altitude quickly. He looked ahead and was surprised to see that he flew fast and hard enough to be near a beach, he wasn't sure where, just that he was near land.

As he glided closer to the water, he suddenly touched the surface and started skidding all the way to the shore. Luckily, he stopped skidding right before he could hit any rocks on the shoreline. As Jaune fully submerged himself, he immediately started swimming for the beach with what strength he could muster.

The waves helped carry him up to the sand. As he crawled up the beach he felt a powerful pain in his lower left abdomen. He rolled over so that his back would be in the sand as he looked down to see a wooden branch impaling him. "Well that's just great…" He reached for it briefly but then realized, if his body was still bleeding from the small cuts and scratches on his hands, a wound this big wouldn't heal right away.

He lay there on the beach for a few minutes to collect his strength as he stood up. Once he was up he reached down to his holster and was relieved that his pistol as still there. He pulled it out and opened the magazine and saw he had only eight rounds left and no other magazines to use.

He looked up to see that it was already dusk and that the sun was going down to his left, which meant that he was facing north. _"Helms Deep is that way… better start walking…"_

The wound on his leg from the obsidian knife was mostly healed, but he still was forced to limp. As he began his way north, he was unaware of a small pack of creatures that saw him as tempting prey.

* * *

In the tower of Haven Academy, Saruman and Peter Slate were discussing Helms Deep. Saruman used the Palantir to form a holographic image of the fortress, and when he zoomed into the outer wall.

"Helms Deep has one weakness. The Deeping Wall stands twenty feet high and made of concrete roughly six feet thick, with its main support being steel rebar on the inside," Slate pointed at a section of the wall for Saruman to see it, "A small opening, near one of the guard towers, acts as a drainage system for the river behind the fortress."

Saruman motioned for Slate to follow him; "Prior to his death, Locus had some ideas for specialized bombs created for such an occasion."

"How big are we talking about, exactly?" Slate was curious; he knew little of Locus so he didn't know what kind of person he was to design a weapon.

"Originally, he intended it to be used it on the walls of Minas Tirith, but I guess this will have to do for now." Saruman then revealed two large spherical containers, he opened one of them up to show that there are two Dust crystals, one fire and one lighting, the size of basketballs in the core. The casing around the crystals were shielding and would act as shrapnel when the bombs were ignited.

"Impressive," Slate said with awe.

"Once the wall is breached, Helms Deep will fall," Saruman said as he closed the bomb and walked off, with Slate following.

"Assuming the bombs do their job, it would take thousands to storm the main Keep." Slate said with absolute certainty.

"Tens of thousands, I would guess," Saruman said with a small grin.

"And where, pray tell, we can find such a force?" Slate asked and was immediately answered when he looked out the window of Saruman's office. Down below he could see thousands of Uruks Hai around the academy.

Saruman chuckled at his subordinate's shock, "50,000 units, am I correct?"

Slate turned around to see whom his master was talking to and found a wolf-like Uruk Hai standing there, wearing armor and standing at attention.

"That is correct, my lord," Alpha said with pride, "Our troops stand at your command."

Saruman walked up to Alpha, "You will command our forces to Helms Deep, take 20,000," he then turned to Slate, "The rest will be sent to Mordor."

"For the Queen?" Slate asked.

"Yes. She is already making headway in Atlas as it is, and her generals request that we send them our first batch of perfect soldiers to them." Saruman then walked towards the Palantir on his desk and picked it up, he held it high and projected a small globe of Remnant, "I intend to use Helms Deep as an example of how perfect our force is, and I will become Salem's top General." He then looked to Alpha, "You'll need this." Handing the detonator to the bombs, "Now… lets go address the troops."

Saruman, Slate and Alpha walked out to a balcony that looked out to all of the troops as they chanted to their master. He held out his hand for them to stop chanting, he then gripped the Palantir and used it to project his voice to the army, "A new power rising. Its victory is at hand." The army cheered in agreement, "Tomorrow… Anima will be stained with the blood of Mistral! When you march on Helms Deep, you will leave _NONE_ alive! ONWARD! TO WAR!"

The army cheered and chanted a war chant that could be heard for miles in every direction, Alpha howled along with thousands of other Beowulf-Uruks. Slate looked out to the army and couldn't help but quake in his boots at the sight of such horror before him.

Saruman began to smirk, "This will be the last day for Mistral, and it will be the first kingdom to fall."

The army of Uruks began their long march to Helms Deep. Given that they would have to march all the way around the Great Lake, Saruman knew they would arrive by nightfall of the following day, leaving Theoden between the army and the mountains. The trap had been sprung, and now it is on its way to finish off the kingdom.

* * *

Not far from Haven, Weiss, Blake and Treebeard were making their way through the forest. Blake heard a noise and looked in the direction it came from, it sounded like chants and animal howls. "I see something…" she tried to focus her eyes as best she could. "Looks like smoke from the south."

"There is always smoke rising from Haven these days…" Treebeard said with a sad tone. "Lionheart used to visit my forest, but now he has a mind of metal and fire…"

From what she could tell, she saw the smoke rising from Haven, and a large column of dark figures. Weiss climbed up Treebeard's body to meet up with Blake at the top and saw what she was seeing, "What is that?"

"Saruman's army… He's already going to war with Mistral," Blake said with a bit of anger in her eyes.

"And here we are, in a forest, on a walking tree, going to what, exactly?" Weiss asked with a bit of frustration.

"We are going to the Ent Moot, something that we cannot miss, young Schnee." Treebeard said as he continued walking.

* * *

Pyrrha and GMBL have spent the past three hours trying to get as close as they could on land, where they last saw Jaune. The sun was already beginning to set; the sky was turning purple and orange in the distance.

As they stopped, Pyrrha got off her four-wheeler and ran up to the top of a tall rock, she pulled out her binoculars and looked on. From what little the GPS system in the armored truck could tell them, they were somewhere in the western side of the Grand Lake. She looked on for the fourth time and began to grip her binoculars tightly.

"Three hours of NOTHING!" Pyrrha shouted with frustration and fear, "We could be going the wrong direction for all we know! WHERE THE HELL COULD HE BE?!"

Grun walked up to her and rested his hand on her shoulder; he could fully understand her frustration, "Easy, youngin. Easy," She looked to him with a face he had never seen before on her, true fear. "We'll find him, we just need to keep a level head. Letting emotions run wild will lead to panic, and panic can lead to missing important things."

Pyrrha began to relax a bit; she had only known Grun for more than a year, but she learned that he had more wisdom than he usually lets on.

"Boss," Blitz called out from the car, "nightfall is coming down fast."

"We should have a better change in the morning," Leere added.

Grun quickly turned to his team; "We'll set up camp after we find Jaune."

His team didn't argue, when he was in this kind of mood, best not to start anything. Pyrrha lowered her binoculars and started to think, _"Come on, Jaune, where are you… give me something…"_

Unknown to Pyrrha, a small section of the fabric on her left sleeve began to glow; something was shining from underneath her sleeves. Macht caught the sight of it almost instantly, "Hey, Boss?"

"I said we'll make camp after we find him! PERIOD!" Grun growled at his teammate.

"No, Grun," Leere began to point at Pyrrha, "Look at Pyrrha's arm!"

Pyrrha looked down and almost immediately knew what was making that glow as she pulled it out. She rolled up her sleeve and showed her white bracelet with the black gemstone was glowing; the gem on the band was glowing bright. "Maleficent's gift…"

 _Mother?_ Grun then shook his head, "What gift?"

"She said she couldn't give us anything that could match the bond between me and Jaune, so she gave us something that would strengthen it." Pyrrha started to turn the direction of her arm and saw it glower brighter in one direction and darker in the other. " 'Simply think of the other, and you will find them'…"

She turned her arm until the stone glowed the brightest, "That way…" She and Grun both hopped off the rock and ran to the vehicles.

Blitz started to chuckle, "It's like the Hot and Cold game, but with death."

"More like against time," Macht said in response.

Both vehicles engines started up quickly and both drove as fast as they could, following the glow of Pyrrha's bracelet.

* * *

As Jaune continued his way north, at least he thought he was going north; his leg healed enough for him not to limp anymore. He could feel his aura rising again, but the branch in his side was too big of a wound for his aura alone to heal. And he was still bleeding from it. Not too much to get light headed, but enough to leave a trail of red droplets on his path to Helms Deep.

As he walked through the grass field, he felt an unnerving feeling that something was stalking him. He looked back and saw nothing, but he knew something was out there, and it was after him.

He turned back around and kept walking, walking as fast as he could without making too much noise. He looked ahead to see some large rocks and made his way to them. As he reached them he saw that there was a small spot were three rocks were stacked like a mini cave.

Jaune ran into it and hid behind a small hole in one of the rocks and hid behind the edge. He held his left hand over his side while his other hand reached for his pistol and drew it from the holster.

He waited for what felt like an hour, light a screech sound, what sounded like cracking sounds and the sound of hoofs walking on the dirt. Then he heard a loud shriek that could almost match the Banshee's scream.

Before he knew it the top rock that was above him was swatted away by the creature, as its arm retracted, it grabbed Jaune's boot and pulled him out from between the rocks. It held him up high and slammed him into the ground on his back.

He coughed from the impact and looked to see it was a Nuckelavee Grimm and it did not look happy. It lashed its arm at him again, this time he half rolled, trying not to push the branch deeper into his side.

He pointed his pistol at the beast's arm as it came down and shot at its palm. The arm was deflected and was retracted as the beast groaned. He then fired two more shots and the main body but they bounced off like they were rubber. He looked down at his pistol and saw that there was no glow, _"No aura to spare, and no special bullets."_

The Nucke raised its front legs up and then began to charge at Jaune. He quickly stood up and ran towards the rocks, hoping to get into a wedge where the Nucke couldn't follow. As he reached the others side he was grabbed again by the creature's arm and was pulled back towards it. He reached around with his pistol in his hand and fire two shots right through its arm; it immediately let go.

He fell forwards and quickly recovered before he could fall. He then was knocked over as the creature landed right behind him; evidently it jumped over the rocks landed hard enough to knock him off his feet.

He turned around to see the Nucke raise its front legs to stomp on him; but then a spear hit the horse's throat and hit it with enough force to push it back. Jaune recognized the spear's color scheme, as he turned around to see Pyrrha running as fast as she could with her shield up with Grun right beside her.

Both ran as fast and as hard as they could as she held her shield up and they both provided to shield-ram the Nucke's humanoid body. As it backed off, Pyrrha pulled her sword out of it's body and held it at the ready.

Pyrrha looks down to see Jaune on the ground, holding the branch in his side, keeping it from coming out or pushing any further into his body. "Are you ok?"

"Now that you're here, I'm fine." He said with a raspy voice and a bit of a smile.

"Stay down," Grun said as he was focused on the Nucke, the rest of his team arrived and formed up on the two that were standing. "Pyrrha, Blitz and Leere; pin its arm to the ground. Macht, keep its voice low."

The Nucke didn't give the team a chance to acknowledge their orders as it spun both of its arms around like helicopter rotors. Everyone was scattered until it retracted its arms. It then started lashing out at each of them, not letting them stay in one place too long.

Pyrrha motioned for Blitz to give her a boost, she ran at him and he pushed her up with his arms, but he was then knocked down by the Nucke's arm. The fingers of it's arm wrapped around Blitz's body and started to squeeze hard. Blitz was using all his strength just to keep from his body from being crushed.

In the air, Pyrrha aimed her spear at the wrist of the Nucke's and shot her spear down hard like a nail on wood. As the spear went through the wrist, its hand let go of Blitz and allowed him to move. The beast howled in extreme pain as both Pyrrha and Blitz held the sword in place.

Leere gathered a gust of wind that blew near her and used it to get the monster's attention. It looked at her and snarled. It slung its other arm at her and landed near her feet, luckily she dodged it before it could land a blow. It kept slinging its arm repeatedly as she kept jumping around.

After the fourth jump, she threw her Duel Sais at both of its fingers, straight through, pinning them to the ground. She then landed on them with her feet to make sure they were buried deep enough into he ground for it to not be able to pull them out so quickly.

The Nucke began to growl and tug on both its arms to release them, but it had no torque to pull them free. Its horse body bucked up and started walking forward, in an attempt to rip itself out of the restraints. But before it got too far, Macht ran right in front and lashed both his bladed whips around the horse head.

The Nucke's horse pulled away but the whips were beginning to cut deep into it's hide as both the Grimm and Macht pulled away from each other. In a desperate attempt to get all of the hunters off of it, the Nucke started to screech as loud as it could.

The screech quickly began to be unbearable for the hunters, forcing a few to their knees until a sonic wave formed around the Grimm. Showing off his semblance, Match held his hands out and created sonic from his hands and surrounded the creature in a bubble of sound. Once he had it surrounded in sonic waves, he began compressing them down on the monsters body.

Once he was sure it was clear for him to move in, Grun gave Macht the signal to stop. Now that the sonic waves were gone, Grun ran up behind the Nucke to try and stab it from behind with his gauntlet claws, but the horse head saw him coming and donkey kicked him with its hind legs.

In a last attempt to free itself, the Nucke pulled hard on its arms again. It howled as the blades ripped through its hands and fingers, but it succeeded in breaking out of its restraints. Before Macht could react the creature charged at him with malicious intent.

Macht retracted his whips back into their kukri swords to block the horse head's teeth from chewing on him, but the strength from the monster was too much for him. The horse began to press downward on him, forcing him down to his knees.

Leere and Blitz started running to come help, but were swiped away by the Nucke flinging its arms like a helicopter. They were sent hard into a nearby bolder, Blitz landing first and his wife landing on top.

After the spin, the humanoid head of the Nucke was hit a few times from Jaune. He used both hands and managed to hit one of its eyes, causing enough pain to screech even louder. The horse head gripped its teeth tighter on Macht's blades, quickly picked him up turned fast and hard as it threw him into Pyrrha as she was running towards it.

Grun got back up after the kick to the chest and started running at it with a loud growl. The Nucke turned towards him and shot both its arms straight at him, one hit near his feet and missed, but the other hit his chest as he was in mid air. Grun was almost hit hard enough to knock the wind out of him, and landed in the dirt after tumbling a few feet.

The Nucke quickly set its sights back on its original target and flung one of its arms at Jaune's chest, hitting the branch in his side. His eyes widened as he felt the branch cut deeper into his body, and then felt himself being flung off his feet. Jaune was pushed hard and crashed into a large rock, creating quite a few cracks in it. The impact made him lose his breath, he was gasping for almost a minute, just to breathe.

Seeing it all happen in an instant, Grun bared his teeth and growled with blood-thirty intent. As if he wasn't mad already, this creature made him reached a whole new level of 'pissed off'. He got back up and charged at the Nucke at top speed, claws out and eyes blazing with rage.

Grun jumped on the back of the horse and started stabbing its humanoid body repeatedly, in the back, in he head, in the side; he kept jabbing both his arms, on after the other. The Nucke tried to shake him off but his claws were cutting too quickly for it to move. It wasn't until he finally slashed its head off with both claws that it slumped to the ground and began to disintegrate into oblivion.

Pyrrha was surprised at how much rage could be within a person, she'd seen berserkers fight Grimm before, but this was almost terrifying. She then looked to see Jaune out could, "Jaune!"

Everyone gathered around Jaune and saw that the wound in his side was bleeding a lot. Leere held her hands out and used her semblance to try and stop the bleeding. "When I say, remove the branch fast… 3,2,1, GO!"

Blitz pulled fast and removed the branch, and Leere did her best to block the blood from exiting through the wound. Grun didn't like what he saw.

"How bad?"

"Not good," Leere replied without hesitation, "I've stopped his internal bleeding, but he's lost too much blood already. He needs more blood in order for his Aura to recover and repair the rest of the damage."

Macht looked to Pyrrha, "Do you know his blood type?"

Before she could answer, Grun spoke up, "You don't need it, I'm a universal donor."

Leere motioned for him to stand beside Jaune, "We don't have any IV tubes, so we'll have to do this directly."

"How do you mean?" Blitz asked in confusion.

Grun opened his left hand and cut his palm, not enough to leave a scar, but enough to bleed the amount Leere wanted. She then used her semblance to move the blood that was leaving his hand and placed it into Jaune's wound.

No more than a minute went by of her doing so and they already saw his body start to glow from his aura rejuvenating. "That's enough," She said to Grun as he gripped his hand tightly around some gauze that Macht handed him.

Pyrrha helped Leere placed the bandage and antibiotics incase the branch carried any infection when it was lodged in his body.

Pyrrha brushed her hand across Jaune's brow and saw him smile for a split second, she looked to Leere as she smirked, "He should be fine, he just needs rest."

"We all could use some of that…" Blitz said as he sat down in the grass.

Grun smirked, "Macht, let's set up camp here…"

* * *

All the way in the north, inside the Fortress City of Minas Tirith, General Ironwood, Winter Schnee and Penny Polendina discuss the current status of Atlas in this time of war. Faramir Numenor was speaking with them on a localized radio system they were able to get running for this occasion.

Ironwood spoke up first, "Supreme Commander Numenor, are you reciving?"

 _"_ _Copy that. A bit of static, but I can live with it, General. What's the status of our home?"_ Faramir said over the radio.

Ironwood activated the holomap to show the kingdom, Faramir's scroll was synced up so he could see what he was explained the current situation, "At the moment, all border villages and minor basses have been over run or abandoned to spare our people. The enemy force has more than made itself known to us, but from what I can tell, no major settlements have been attacked."

 _"_ _Why do I get the feeling that that's the a problem?"_ Faramir could tell that there was a lot more to this invasion than minor attacks.

Winter replied for the general, "From what we can tell, this force is slowly, but surely, carving a path to Minas Tirith…"

"Which leaves us to only one conclusion," Ironwood added.

 _"_ _Rourke Numenor is leading this assault,"_ Faramir finished with slight frustration in his voice. For a long time his family has tried desperately to over come the scorn that was the Black Knight of Mantel. Rourke was a proud knight and a brilliant leader, until he got greedy and thought himself a better king than the one he knelt to. _"This is his style of warfare. He'll know exactly how to hit the capital, and with Grimm under his control, he may actually succeed."_

Penny felt the need to speak up with her own suggestion to the situation, "If we know he's coming, then maybe we should start attacking his army? I'm not saying a full assault, but guerrilla tactics could do more damage. Drive the enemy away from the main force and make it smaller?"

Winter admired her ingenuity in tactics, but it wasn't going to work, "The Hoard is too big, any force we stray away would be replaced a day later. Wild Grimm from the tundra fall in line with the army every day."

 _"_ _That's not all. I've only been here for two weeks and made contact with several White Fang cells,"_ Faramir said as he sent them images of their Goliath mounted soldiers. _"They are getting better with their Grimm-taming, and now they have creature mounts."_

Ironwood pounded the table in frustration, "We knock them down and they keep getting back up worse… Umber Kahn is really pushing for this alliance with Salem."

Penny then spoke up, "I may have not as bad of news, but you may need to hear it."

"Go ahead," Ironwood said with a slight hope this news is any better than the last.

"The Reds and their platoon stayed in Vale, Sarge refused the recall order and deployed his troops to help protect Vale instead," Penny said with slight embracement, she knew the Sarge meant well to stay in Vale, but to refuse the general was a bit of a risk.

Ironwood gripped his hand tightly, "Honeslty I can't say I'm surprised…" He shook his head like a parent that was disappointed with their child, "Sarge never did follow ever order, but we need to focus more on Atlas' protection than his insubordination."

Penny nodded, "Yes, General."

He then looked to Winter, "Anything else for this update?"

Winter cleared her throat; "It would appear that a large cold front is making its way towards our continent of Solitas. And as far as we can tell, its on a straight path from the sea and heading inland."

"The Winter Witch…" Ironwood guessed correctly, "Two Nazgul in one campaign, Salem isn't holding back in this fight."

Penny pulled the hollow map to show the rest of the world, "There is more news, about the rest of the world."

 _"_ _Go on,"_ Faramir said, he was interested in how well the rest of the world was doing in this war.

"From what our drones tell us over Anima, Saruman Lionheart has been staging several attacks on Mistral," Penny highlighted the attacks on the Anima portion of the map. "King Theoden escorted a great amount of people North to Helms Deep; I believe he intends to hunker down there until he is sure the rest of Mistral can get back on their feet."

Winter pulled the map towards the western half of Sanus, "Vacuo isn't doing any better: several attacks along their coast indicates that someone with great tactical mentality is commanding their foresees too."

"Radcliff Smith, obviously," Ironwood said, "He's the third Nazgul to make command a theater of war, and it's only a matter of time before the last two make their moves too."

 _"_ _What about Vale?"_ Faramir asked.

Winter answered, "General Arc is doing her best with what she has, including the Reds. So far all the boarder cities have been hit hard, but they've formed an adequate defense from any attacks further inland."

"Some of the intelligence calls it a full scale 'boarder war'," Penny added.

 _"_ _No leadership?"_ Faramir asks with confusion.

"So far no sign of any," Ironwood stated with a bit of surprise to match Faramir, "just that all the hoards are attacking more frequently than usual."

Faramir starts to recognize their enemy's strategy; _"Salem is keeping all us on the defensive while her generals push us on every front… She doesn't want any two kingdoms to help each other."_

Penny looked at the map, "If Rourke continues down the path we've predicted, that would leave the city of Aletsch being the only stable base in his way."

"Wasn't that one of the first cities that was attacked?" Winter asked, she then realized why it was the first, "Of course, they softened our defenses there, so that the main force could come in and overwhelm us."

 _"_ _General, order what troops you can to Aletsch, Schnee do the same. We loose that city, the Capital will be next,"_ Faramir said with a serious tone, he then spoke directly to Winter, _"General Schnee… Be careful out there."_

"You too, Commander." Winter said with a bit of fear in her throat.

 _"_ _Roger. Over and out."_ Faramir cut the transmission.

Ironwood walked out of the room to go make a few calls, leaving Penny and Winter alone. Penny saw that Winter was getting more and more worried, "Don't worry, Winter, Faramir is going to be ok."

"I just can't help but feel that this is only going to get worse before it'll ever get better," Winter said as she looked to Penny with fear in her eyes. Penny tried to smile at her to get her not to worry, but she couldn't help but feel worried too, over her friends and where they could possibly be at this point and if they were safe.

* * *

Ruby and Yang had their black bags that were over their heads taken off and they realized they were in the middle of a Sky Knight camp. They could tell from the Sky Knight of Atlas flags on some of their tents and symbols on some of the soldiers.

They then saw Faramir walk up to them with a very serious glare, "My guys say your spies for the Dark Queen."

"Spies? Really?" Yang asked in a bit of a frustrating tone, "DO WE LOOK LIKE SPIES!?"

Ruby elbowed Yang's arm, "Yang, don't start a fight with this guy, please…"

"If you're not spies than why the hell are you in Draco?" Faramir knew that all civilians that used to be on the continent before the war were all evacuated, so there was no other reason he could believe for someone to be there that wasn't wearing Atlas colors.

Ruby and Yang remained silent; they could tell Faramir was starting to feel impatient, so Ruby broke the silence. "We are from Vale. My name is Ruby Rose, and this is my sister, Yang Xao Long."

"Where is your skulking friend?" Faramir asked with a bit of a skeptical glare, "My troops said there was a third person with you, if you'd call it a person…"

Ruby didn't hesitate, "We were alone, just us. It's been like that for weeks. Unless you saw something following us."

Faramir didn't believe her for a minute, but he felt he'd get nowhere with this conversation, "What brings you too all the way up here?"

"We're on a mission," Ruby said bluntly, "We set out from Rivendell in Vacuo with eight others. Two were our teammates, Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna. Four were another team of hunters, one being the Star Knight of Vale. Another Knight from Atlas. And the eight we lost in the pits of Moria."

"Weiss… You're her leader?" Faramir started to remember, Winter once told him of her sister's team and 'childish' leader. He then realize that she mentioned his brother, "The Knight from Atlas, was it Boromir Numenor?"

"Yes… do you know him?" Ruby hadn't talked about Boromir since they parted ways, she was often afraid to think of what he almost became.

"He's my brother." Faramir said with a bit of grief in his tone, "He's dead."

"Dead?" Yang exclaimed, "When? Where?"

"As his friends, I thought you could tell me." Faramir gave them a skeptical look.

Yang rolled her eyes, "If we knew he was dead, why would we ask?"

Faramir turned away and sat down on a folded chair, "Less than a month ago our drones detected his beacon west of Anima. When they found his body, it had been buried in rocks and his sword stabbed into the ground beside it. Whomever left him there made sure he'd come home."

He could see the look of sadness and shame on Ruby's face; he could see she felt guilty over something. Whatever happened to his brother, she may know why he died. "You two will stay with us until I say otherwise," he looked to his first lieutenant, "See to it they get some food and beds, but keep their hands tied." The soldier nodded as he motioned for them to follow him.

* * *

Faramir put down the radio and walked away from the radio tent in the camp, he walked back into the cave they turned into their base camp and sat on his cot. _"Brother…"_

 ** _(Start of Flashback)_**

Two months ago, the city of Aletsch was attacked with a siege that lasted two whole days from constant Grimm attacks. Thousands of lives were lost, countless more were missing, and the city was on the verge of collapse. That is, until Boromir rallied the surviving defenders and lead a counter attack that held off the hoards long enough for General Ironwood's reinforcements could arrive from Minas Tirith.

The victory was symbolic to some, that despite the size of their army, they managed to achieve a victory nobody saw coming. Boromir stood at the top of one of the tall towers and spoke into the radio to all the troops, he held his family's sword, Cold-Fury, high and said, " _This city was once the jewel of the Kingdom of Mantel. A place of life, of beauty and music we remember from the Kingdoms of Old, and so it will be again!_ "

The masses cheered with him, " _Let the armies of The Enemy know this:_ _ **Never**_ _again will the land of our people fall into her hands! The city of Aletsch has been reclaimed, FOR ATLAS!_ "

" _FOR ATLAS!_ " the masses chanted back.

Faramir walked through the troops as they were dealing with the aftermath of the battle, tending to the wounded and repairing their vehicles. He kept going until he reached his brother and the two ran into each other with a strong hug.

Faramir let go, "Good speech. Short and to the point, defiantly your style."

"Speeches are your thing, little brother," Boromir chuckled, "You got a higher grade in that class."

"That's only because I paid attention in that one," Faramir said as they both pounded fists.

"Besides, it leaves more time for drinking!" Boromir then shouted, "BREAK OUT THE BEER! These soldiers are thirsty!" Some of the troops cheered with him as the barrels were brought out and whole pint glasses were passed around for everyone to use.

Boromir and Faramir got some for themselves and walked away from the main group to talk, Boromir put his arm around Faramir, "Remember today, brother. Today we proved that Atlas has as much muscle as the rest of the world."

They both drank their drinks but quickly stopped when Boromir saw Faramir lower his cup, "What?"

" _He's_ here…" Faramir said with a dim tone.

Boromir looked into the crowd and saw Chancellor Denathor Numenor walk towards them. Boromir rolled his eyes, "Can't he let us enjoy one victory without ruining it?"

"It's not in his nature," Faramir said quickly before their father reached them.

"Where is Atlas' hero? Where is my son?!" Chancellor Denathor said with joy and pride in his voice.

Boromir turned towards him and put on a false smile, "Father."

They quickly hugged, "They say you almost fought off the Grimm by yourself."

"Troops will say anything to make a good story," Boromir then pointed to his brother, "but we wouldn't have won if Faramir hadn't brought our reinforcements in time."

Faramir walked out with a smile, but it quickly vanished when his father pointed out, "But wasn't the city under his charge in the first place? Look what happened."

"We would have held them," Faramir replied with slight agitation, "but we didn't have the men."

"So you ran and left your brother to deal with your mess," Denathor insinuated.

"I was following my Commander's orders," Faramir snapped back.

Denathor didn't seem amused, "Orders that allowed you to play the coward."

"That's enough!" Boromir spoke up, "He fought as hard as any soldier under my command, if it wasn't for him the city would have already fallen by the time I arrived."

Boromir stormed off and Denathor followed, they met up in a small doorway where Boromir spoke his mind to his father, "He loves you, father! Whether you do or not, he TRIES to make you proud of him!"

"Now is no the time for a son to win the pride of his father," Denathor spoke with a very serious tone, "This war is just getting started, and next time we lose a city we may not get it back as quickly."

Boromir seemed confused, "What do you mean?"

"Headmaster Elrond called for a meeting in Rivendell; he called all major members of the four kingdoms." Denathor then started to have an ambitious tone, "He wont say way but I'm sure of what its about, The Ring of Darkness has resurfaced."

"Isildur's Bane…" That object always haunted Boromir in the days of his historical studies. How a ring managed to make their ancestor fall out of grace and die.

"And now it's in the hands of Vacuo, VACUO!" Denathor sounded agitated, "The other kingdoms will try to claim this prize. But it MUST be granted to Atlas."

"You want me to steal the ring?" Boromir asked in confusion.

"Not steal, offer our services to use it against Salem herself," Denathor truly believes that it is a simple weapon that can be used by anyone, "And with it, we can finally make Atlas into the proud country it was meant to be."

"Father…" Boromir started to get scared.

"I know it's dangerous, son," Denathor put his hands on Boromir's shoulders, "It is said it can corrupt the hearts of lesser men, but YOU! You are strong! When Salem decided to lay siege to Atlas, we may not be able to drive her back. We need this Mighty Gift here to help drive her back and win this war!"

"NO!" Boromir walked away, "My place is HERE! With my people! Leading our troops in this war! Not going to a meeting in Rivendell!"

Denathor chased after him, "Would you deny your own father?!"

Faramir came out from behind one of the walls, he heard the whole thing, "If you need someone in Rivendell to spare, I can go."

Denathor looked at his second son, "And risk you failing again? I think not. This mission is too dire to be risked on anyone less than a Star Knight."

Less than an hour later, Boromir readied a plane that would take him to Rivendell; his brother was there on the landing pad to see him off. Boromir walked off the plane, ordering the pilot to wait a few minutes.

He unbuckled the belt that held Cold Fury and its sheath, wrapped the belt around the sword and held it out to Faramir, "Take it."

"But this sword belongs to a Star Knight…" Faramir pushed the sword back to Boromir.

Boromir pushed it back to his brother, "It belongs here, protecting our people. And I can't think of anyone better to use it to its full potential."

Faramir clasped his hands around the sword as Boromir let go. He held it tightly, "I won't let you down, I promise…"

Boromir put his hand on his brother's shoulder, and then pulled him in for a hug, "You never will, little brother." He looked behind him and saw Winter standing behind him. Once he let go he smirked at her, "Take good care of this one, he needs you more than me."

"Yes, sir." Winter said with a friendly salute.

As Boromir walked up the ramp, Winter walked up beside Faramir. She didn't see it, but she felt his hand tough hers, she opened it for him to hold hers tightly. Prior to the ramp closing, Boromir waved them off one last time as the engines revved up. They waved back, not knowing that this would be the last time they ever saw each other.

 ** _(End of Flashback)_**

Faramir gripped Cold Fury tightly in his hands; not a day goes by where he wished he had taken that mission instead of Boromir, _"At least if he stayed, Atlas might be in a safer position than it is right now…"_

Faramir then heard a soldier approaching from behind, "Commander, do you have a moment?" He then stood up and listened to what his soldier had to say.

* * *

Ruby and Yang were sleeping in on cots the Sky Knights provided. Faramir walked over to Ruby and tapped her to wake her up as gently as he could. Once he saw that she was awake, he spoke in a serious tone, "You will come with me, only you."

Ruby didn't say a word; she saw that Yang was awake and motioned for her to stay as she followed Faramir.

The two walked though the cave until they reached an open area that had a river. They followed the river until it reached a waterfall, and down below was a familiar face, eating raw fish.

Ruby saw Smeagol and immediately got scared, _"Oh, no… they found him…"_

"I have no reason to believe he hasn't scouted my encampment… which makes him a possible spy and informant for The Enemy," Faramir points Ruby out to a sniper on the opposite side of the river, who has her sights pointed at Smeagol.

Ruby looks back at him, he continues to say, "She never misses, so I suggest you speak now while it still lives."

"He's our friend!" Ruby exclaimed. Faramir was taken by surprises at how quickly she spoke up. "He helped us when we got lost. Please… If you promise you wont hurt him, I'll get him to leave. Just let me go down to him."

Faramir motioned for her to go, and she went. But after she left he motioned his troops a hand signals that meant 'capture alive'.

Ruby made it down to the bottom of the waterfall and walked along the rocks to see Smeagol. "Smeagol" she whispered as she got closer, "Smeagol, it's Ruby."

Smeagol turned around with a raw fish in his mouth, still wiggling at its tail fin. "Huh?" he voiced with a mouth full of fish.

"You need to leave, now!" she whispered sharply, "This place isn't safe for you!"

Smeagol turned around to face her, he dropped the fish from his mouth, "What about Lady Rose? And yellow hair?"

"We'll be fine, now go!" Ruby appreciated that he asked but she really wanted him to leave right now.

Before they knew it, a large net opened up above them and came down on Smeagol. He screamed as the rope wrapped around him and forced him to the ground.

"NO!" Ruby shouted as she saw troopers drop in from the higher ledges, and other coming out from behind the waterfall. One of them ran up to Smeagol and was about to knock him out with the butt of his gun. But from what Smeagol saw, the soldier was quickly hit by a red streak.

Ruby tackled the soldier into the water and quickly got back out. She picked up the pistol he dropped and stood beside Smeagol, who was still held down by the net. She held her gun out at everyone as they were all aiming theirs at her.

Faramir came out from behind two soldiers, "You promised you wouldn't hurt him!"

"That depends on him," Faramir said with a serious tone. "Besides, we can't risk him running off and blabbing what he knows about our encampment to the Enemy."

"What makes you think he knows anything at all?" Ruby asked with confusion and frustration.

"We'll find out soon enough, after we question him." Faramir then walked towards Smeagol in the net but Ruby got between them and pointed her gun at his chest.

Faramir looked down and then looked her in the eye, she looked at him with a serious glare, "You aren't torturing him…"

"If you're going to point a gun at a Star Knight," Faramir quickly snatched the pistol out of her hand before she could react, "then keep your finger on the trigger."

He turned away, "Cuff her, and take the creature with us." The other soldiers followed his orders and proceeded to take the two back to camp.

* * *

Smeagol was taken to an area in the cave and kept in the net where two soldiers held him down as a third placed a metal collar around his neck and chained it to the wall. Once it was placed the two others released Smeagol from the net and let him jump around like a dog running at the end of his rope repeatedly.

It kept up until he tired himself out and curled up in a corner of the cave. Faramir walked up to him and knelt down, "Where were you three going? Why are you in Draco?"

" ** _Smeagol…_** " Gollum's voice came out of Smeagol's mouth again, once it left, Smeagol started crying again. " ** _Why does it cry, Smeagol?_** "

Faramir looked at him with confusion, _"Is he talking to himself?"_

"Cruel Men hurts us…" Smeagol sobbed into his arms. "Lady Rose tried to warn Smeagol, Smeagol didn't listen fast enough…"

" ** _Rose BETRAYED Smeagol! Just as Rose BETRAYED Gollum!_** " Gollum started coughing his name with a raspy voice and pure rage in this throat.

"Rose is our friend…" Smeagol tried to plead.

" ** _She stole it from us! She is not OUR FRIEND!_** " Gollum shouted loudly.

 _"_ _It?"_ Faramir walked closer, "What did she steal from you?"

What was once Smeagol sobbing quickly turned to Gollum as it looked Faramir with a vengeful glimmer in its eyes, " ** _My… PRECIOUS!_** "

* * *

Ruby was placed back with Yang, with her cuffs still on. Yang sat beside her, holding her sister close as Ruby stared down at the floor.

They both looked up to see Faramir with a rather curious look on his face; he draws his sword and points it at Ruby. Yang stands up to get between them and ends up having the sword just barely touch her coat.

"Of all the reasons to be in Draco, yours is the most important…" Faramir looks directly at Ruby, overlooking Yang completely, "You have _her_ ring, don't you?"

Ruby didn't answer, but the look on her face was enough for him to know the truth. "And you were bringing it to her? You'd bring the end for us all!"

"No, you idiot!" Yang exclaimed, "We brought it here to destroy it. It was made in Mount Doom, it can be destroyed there. This is the mission we were given in Rivendell, that's what _your brother_ fought for!"

Faramir didn't like being called an idiot, but he had to continue with the task at hand, "What of the creature? What is his purpose in this trek?"

"He's our guide. He's been to Mordor, when they tortured him about the Ring…" Ruby spoke up and got out from behind Yang, she allowed Faramir see the ring briefly before tucking it back under her shirt. "Let us go, and we'll continue our mission."

Before Faramir could say anything, a soldier approached him from behind and spoke, "General Schnee is reporting an attack in Aletsch, she's calling for reinforcements."

Faramir lowered his sword and put away his personal ambition for a moment, "We need to pack up our camp; we leave at daybreak." The soldier nodded and ran off to inform the rest of the men. Faramir turned back to the hunters, "That Ring will go to Atlas, where it will be used to save our people…"

* * *

Jaune felt some pain in his back, but the pain in his side was greatly lessen. He felt something warm behind his head, as he opened his eyes; he looked up to a very beautiful woman with red hair and green eyes. She looked relieved and happy, "Glad to see you're awake…"

Jaune lifted his head off Pyrrha's lap as he sat up from his spot. Pyrrha helped him lean against a bolder that was behind her and let him get a good view of the whole group. Leere stood up from her spot near the campfire and walked over to him.

She pulled his head up by his chin and looked him in the eye, and then down at his bandage, "Safe to say the blood transfusion worked. Once the amount of blood in your system returned to normal, it allowed your aura to heal your other wounds." She then points to the bandage, "But even with your enhanced aura, it'll take another day for this to fully heal."

"Blood transfusion?" Jaune asked with both shock and confusion.

"You lost too much blood by the time she started working on you," Grun said as he held up his left hand to show the bandage around it, "Had to give you some of mine so that you'd survive the night."

Leere stood up and started walking away, allowing Pyrrha to take over and sit beside her boyfriend. Grun couldn't help but say, "Fair warning, side effects of the receiving Faunus blood may include behavior changes. You may start to growl when you're angry or feel the compelling feeling of scratching behind the ear."

Jaune chuckled, "You know, now that you mention it," he then points up at the night sky, "I do feel the need to howl at the moon lately."

Grun smirked as he pointed at Jaune and then to Pyrrha, "Just try to resist the urge of humping Pyrrha's leg… at least while we're around."

There was a slight moment of silence, as Jaune rolled his eyes, "You had to make it awkward."

Grun couldn't help but exclaim, "I will teach you the art of snark if it kills me, boy!"

"Better you than me," Jaune chuckled and started coughing.

Leere held her hand out towards him, "Try not to laugh too much, the branch did some damage near your lungs."

Grun then stood up and started walking towards Jaune, "That reminds me, I honestly thought I'd beaten the stupid out of you…" he then walked up to Jaune and slapped him.

Jaune's turned back and looked at Grun with complete confusion, "Did you just slap me?"

"What in the deepest level of frozen hell were you thinking?!" Grun shouted, his voice almost echoing.

Jaune then gave Grun a serious look as he answered, "Did the Grimm back off after their leader was killed?"

"More or less, yeah," Blitz answered.

"Then I guessed right," Jaune said with a calm voice.

"You Guessed?" Grun clenches his fist in both anger and frustration, "You threw yourself into that horde on a guess?!"

Jaune glared at Grun, "I chased and singled out their leader and took him out! Wasn't my fault he had another one of those black knives…"

"Black knives?" Pyrrha asked with curiosity.

Jaune pointed at his pouch that Pyrrha had beside her, "Pass that over, please." As he opened it, he explained, "It's what Locus used to bypass Boromir's aura and mine, in our fight… he used bullets made of the stuff on Boromir, and a knife on me. That Uruk leading the attack had one too." He pulled out a broken fragment of black glass; it was a piece of the knife Locus used on him, he kept it because he wasn't sure what it was and wanted to find out.

"Can I see that?" Macht asked. Jaune tossed the shard to him and he examined it near the fire to get a better look at it, "This… this is Obsidian. It's as brittle as glass, but sharper than steel if carved correctly."

Macht passed it over to Leere when she held her hand out for it, "Where does it come from?" She asked while looking closely at it.

Macht thought for a second, "Normally… areas with volcanic activity…"

"There aren't that many active volcano's on the planet…" Grun said, but then he realized, "But there is one that has been active for over a millennia…"

"Mt. Doom," Pyrrha finished.

"That stuff went right threw our aura like it wasn't even there…" Jaune said, he wouldn't have believe it if it didn't happen to him, twice already.

"As much as I want to talk more about this, there is something else I think we should address…" Grun said as he pointed to both Jaune and Pyrrha, "I would like to clear the air on something that I can't help but notice the both of you are ignoring… why were you two arguing so much on the flight from Mistral?"

With complete honesty, Jaune answers, "I don't know what I'm supposed to be sorry about, specifically! I wanted to know why she hid her pyrophobia and it escalated from there."

Before Grun could snap back, Pyrrha raised her hand, "Actually! I was the one that made it go out of control."

Both looked at her with surprise, "Really?" "YOU were the one who went overboard?" Grun added.

"Why did you say it like that?" Jaune asked with an initiated look.

Grun gave Jaune an obvious grin, "I've known you for ten years, and you've gone overboard over something petty before." Jaune had no comment.

Jaune then looked to Pyrrha, "So why did you escalate it?"

"My uncle…" Pyrrha said with a bit of shame, more towards herself for keeping it from him for that long, "He told me that I'm next in line to rule as Mistral's monarch."

"You'll be the next queen…" Jaune felt his heart sink a bit.

"So?" Blitz asked with confusion, "What man in their right mind wouldn't want to be dating a queen?" Leere swatted his shoulder, and he gave an apology grin.

"Star Knights and Royalty can't mix," Grun explained, "It's a law."

"Why?" Leere asked with still no clue as to why.

Jaune answers, "It always ends bad; both times a Knight either became a monarch or married into one, they became Black Knights."

Grun started to remember what Jonah said about this, "I remember now; that's why it became illegal. Knights already have power over most of a kingdom's military; but to have power over the political theater, would grant them absolute power over the kingdom."

"Which brings us to our current dilemma…" Pyrrha pointed out with a sad tone.

Jaune started to think it over, "Is there anything your uncle can do? Eowyn is older than you…"

"But my father is older than hers," Pyrrha responded, she knew that was the real reason why Theoden didn't consider that before. "Line of succession is clear…" she quoted with a bit of bitterness.

"Can't you just deny it?" Macht asked, he never cared for politics, "I mean, can't you give it to your cousin?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "And risk scorning the family? If I refuse, it'll damage my family's reputation, and could cause people to lose faith in the monarchy…"

"At the moment," Jaune added, "I imagine that's really the only think keeping Mistral together right now… isn't it?"

Grun nodded, "I would say so…"

Leere then spoke up, "What if you step down from your status? Can't you just resign?"

Jaune shook his head, "Being a Star Knight isn't a rank, it's what I am. I can't relinquish my status no more than Grun become human. Poor example; I know, but it's the best I can think of…"

"I wish there was something we could do," Grun said with a bit of sadness for them.

"I appreciate that you want to help, all of you," Pyrrha says with a smile, "But I think we should be more worried about my country's current state of being, over our love life."

Jaune was about to ask, "How bad is it?"

"When we arrived, there were a lot less than we were hoping for," Pyrrha stated.

"The Fortress isn't 'undermanned'," Grun added, "but it wouldn't last against a siege of Grimm if they came for us."

Jaune let out a sigh, "And here I thought I was about to be taken to a luxury resort… after you found me." Some of them chuckled, and wished the same thing.

Grun then stood up from his spot, "Well, I think that's enough of camp-talk for one night. We leave at first light."

* * *

As he said, the group packed up the camp and rode off as the sun rose over the hills. They followed the tracking beacon that Helms Deep has been broadcasting for all those that still have yet to arrive.

Pyrrha decided to sit in the truck with Jaune while Blitz rode the bike she used. She sat closely to him, putting his arm over her shoulder and letting rest his head on hers.

As they were driving, Grun couldn't help but feel something off. In his hunting years, he developed a means to detect when something hostile was nearby. His 'animal instinct', he liked to call it. He pulled over, and signaled Blitz to stop too.

"What is it, boss?" Blitz asked with confusion.

Grun turned off the engine and held his hand to his wolf ear, "You hear that?"

Everyone looked up as they started to hear what he did. They all got out of the car and made their way up a tall hill. They began to crawl as they reached the top, and what they saw terrified them.

Tens of thousands of Uruk Hai, marching in battle formations. They could see that they were supplied with heavy weaponry, sharp blades and hammers, and thousands of feral Grimm marching beside them.

"My god…" Macht said under his breath.

"There must be thousands of them," Blitz said with disbelief.

Grun pulled out a small spyglass and looked at the head of the army. "This is insane… How could Saruman build in army this big in only a few months?"

"It doesn't matter how," Jaune said as he glared at the army with anger, "It's here, now, and from the direction their marching, they're going to Helms Deep."

They all climbed back down the hill and started walking back to the vehicles. "Do you think we'll make it in time for an evacuation?" Pyrrha asked.

"One can hope," Grun said under his breath.

* * *

It didn't take long for them to reach the fortress, after they saw the army. Once they arrived at the front gate, the doors immediately opened. As Pyrrha helped Jaune exit the truck; they both found themselves being applauded by the crowd of soldiers and civilians that greeted them to Helms Deep.

As they were walking through the crowd, they something with orange hair carve a path through the people while shouting, "Where is he? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM!"

Jaune and Pyrrha recognized the voice, and Jaune started to brace himself for what is to come. Out from the crowd came a panting, partly crying, Nora with tears welling up in her eyes. Once she was ahead of the people, she looked at her teammates and tackle-hugged her leader, "You are the luckiest, stupidest, and most stubborn man I'll ever know! DON'T SCARE US LIKE THAT AGAIN!"

Jaune started to groan as Nora began to squeeze too tightly, "Nora… Nora! Can't breathe!"

She immediately let go but then gave him a second hug, less painful this time. Sun and Neptune walked up to them, Neptune smirked, "Where did you guys find him?"

Grun walked up and answered, "Sleeping by a beach, the lazy jerk."

"Lucky bastard," Sun said with a joking grin.

Jaune smiled at the joke, but then his face got serious, "Where's the King?"

Sun pointed towards the keep of the fortress, "In the command center."

Jaune nodded and started making his way, Pyrrha followed, along with Nora. As they were walking up, more soldiers and civilians greeted them. They were happy that their princess came back and she returned with a Star Knight. Jaune would normaly be smiling a 'thank you' at the people, but the news he had to bring kept him from doing so.

As they reached the top, near the main entrance, Ren intercepted Jaune. He stood at the top of the stairs and smiled at Jaune with relief. Jaune walked up to his teammate and gripped his forearm as Ren did the same. "I knew you'd be back…"

"I almost didn't…" Jaune said with a half smile. His face then turned to shock when Ren held up Joyuse before him, still in it's sheath.

As he gripped the sheath, Ren looked up and down on Jaune, "What?"

Ren couldn't help but chuckle, "You look terrible."

Jaune nodded in agreement. He then turned towards the main door and walked up to it. The soldiers by the doors didn't have to be asked, as Pyrrha walked up to the door too and waved them off to open the door.

As the door opened, they could see King Theoden, Robin, Cardin and a few other generals talked as they were looking over a holo-map of Mistral.

Jaune walked into the main hall with the others and saw the look of surprise on some of their faces; Theoden and Cardin were the only ones that weren't surprised. Jaune glanced at Robin and said, "Don't look too disappointed, Loxley, I almost died."

Robin rolled his eyes, "It's nothing against you, Arc… I'm just doing what's best for Mistral."

"And if I hadn't gone, we wouldn't know what we know now." Pyrrha snapped back with a bit of an angry glare at her old friend.

"What do you know?" The King asked with curiosity.

Jaune walked up to the holo-map and placed his scroll on the table. Once it was placed, it projected a new image on the map, showing thousands of red blips in lines, "Saruman has sent an army from Haven, and it's on its way here."

Robin, Cardin, all the other generals stared at that hologram with fear in their eyes, Theoden broke the silence, "How many?"

Jaune looked to Grun as he answered for him, "From what I could see, no less than ten thousand, maybe more… and with all the feral Grimm forming up with them, we're looking at a long fight."

King Theoden couldn't believe the amount, "Ten Thousand?"

"That's impossible!" Robin spat in disbelief of his own, "Grimm can't gather no more than a thousand before they start turning on each other. How could Saruman gather such a hoard?"

"He didn't gather them," Grun corrected, "He bred them, like dogs. 'Uruk Hai', I believe they're called?" Pyrrha nodded to his question.

Prior to his departure at Mistral City, Ozpin told the teams of what Saruman managed to achieve at Haven. And now they are going to see first hand how powerful of a 'monster factory' Haven Academy has become.

"This army was bred for one reason, and one reason only," Jaune added, "To wipe out the Kingdom of Mistral in one battle… They'll be here by midnight."

Right then, King Theoden realized the trap he had just lead his people into. With an army coming for them, and nowhere else to go; there was only one thing he knew that they could do now that would give them a chance at survival, "Let them come…"

* * *

 **AN: And that's it for this chapter.  
I hope it is satisfactory.**

 **I must say, there were some parts I felt I rushed, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that.**

 **I'll try to be more frequent with my new chapters, wish me luck in doing so.**

 **And as always, ARKOS!**


	18. So it begins

**"** **So it begins"**

* * *

 **AN: Here is the next chapter, Helms Deep prepares for 'modern warfare' with a mix of monsters and hybrid beasts with guns and dust staffs.**

 **Hope you guys enjoy what happens in this one.**

* * *

In the land of Mordor, Salem sat at her seat in the meeting room, next to the mercury pool. With so many of her generals out of country, she was alone in the room. She was sitting in front of a chessboard, her side being all black pieces, and the other side being all white.

The white pieces appeared to be in a disadvantage against hers, she has one white knight piece in a corner and the other set up to fail. All of her other pieces are set in place to take the board and win the game, " **It's fun when the plans come to fruition…** "

Just as she let go of her bishop, she saw a white rook move towards one of the knights, all on its own. She squinted for a second but her attention was drawn off the board when she saw the pool of mercury start to move. Four towers of liquid metal started to grow to different sizes and shapes, taking the form of Rourke, Radcliffe, Jadis and Saruman.

" **Well, well…** " She stood up from her chair and walked towards the pool with a happy grin, " **I am eager to hear your reports, my friends.** "

Saruman stepped forward first, "I am pleased to report that the force of my finest Uruk Hai are on their way to Theoden's little stronghold. Mistral will fall within the next 48 hours."

Rourke couldn't help but chuckle, " ** _You lead with that?_** " He moved a bit closer to Salem as he spoke, " ** _I am proud to say, the force that we've gathered in Mantel has reached prime status. I have already given the order to move towards Minas Tirith. The only thing standing in our way is the City of Aletsch._** "

" ** _Not much of a city,_** " Jadis remarked.

" ** _No, but it is the key position that will gain us the front door to the Mountain-city,_** " Rourke said with more gusto, " ** _Soon enough the so called 'government' of Atlas will be nothing more than a distant memory._** "

"I'm sure some of those forces you are commanding are from my supply," Saruman stated, "Try not to take all the credit of the hard work some of us went through thus far."

" ** _Your 'hard labor' was done on the backs of Goblins, Lionheart, not on your own,_** " Rourke rolled his eyes; normaly he wouldn't let such a 'little' man get to him. But Saruman was the kind that he felt needed to be put in his place, " ** _When you start fighting on the front lines like the rest of us, then I'll give you credit._** "

" ** _Boys, boys._** " Jadis said as she raised her hands between them, " ** _You're both good at your jobs, no point in comparing yourselves._** " She then turned to the other knight in the meeting, whom was being surprisingly quiet, " ** _Is there anything you would like to add, Radcliffe?_** "

" ** _I have been… having some setbacks…_** " It was clear that he was having a hard time admitting this.

" ** _Vacuo giving you too much trouble?_** " Jadis asked with a curious tone, " ** _I could send Jackie to aid you._** "

" ** _Not with Vacuo, particularly… there is a group of hunters, five of them…_** " Radcliffe spoke as if he was thinking of what to say while saying it.

" ** _Same five from Fornost?_** " Rourke asked with a confused look.

" ** _Yes… They haven't made any major damages to my campaign, but they have knocked out a few of my commanders I was planning on using against Vacuo._** " Radcliffe almost admired them, " ** _Their leader… he's something else…_** "

" **How so?** " Salem asked, she started to become curious herself.

" ** _Not sure, something… familiar._** " He finished with a nagging feeling deep in the back of his head.

" **If they become more of a nuisance, you WILL ask the others for aid, no acceptations, General.** " Salem said with a very serious tone.

" ** _Yes, your grace._** " Radcliffe said with a bow of his head.

Salem turned to her chess board and moved one of her rooks to the left a few squares, " **We must always be vigilant; let our enemy gain the upper, even a little, and she'll use it as a motivational drive to win. No more mistakes, from any of you!** "

" ** _Yes, your grace._** " All four said in unison.

* * *

It was midday for Helms Deep; King Theoden ordered all his commanders and generals to prepare the fortress for battle. Jaune was in the communication tower with Cardin, he called Jaune up after hearing he came back.

"How long have you been broadcasting?" Jaune asked as Cardin stood up from his chair in the radio room.

"Since we landed. Just three letters, 'SOS'," Cardin said with a bit of bitterness in his voice, "So far no reply. I sent it in all directions, all kingdoms, even Menagerie just in case they had anything to spare."

"Still too soon to lose hope, Cardin," Jaune said with a serious tone as he looked out the window.

Cardin shook his head, "I'm more worried if we'll ever get out of here at all…"

Jaune quietly agreed; he exited the room and went down the elevator to the main keep to see the King as he oversaw the fortifications.

* * *

Theoden made his way to the main gate of the keep; he was giving orders to his commanders as he walked. Jaune wasn't too far behind him and heard his orders; "I want every adult and strong child capable of fighting given a weapon and armor by nightfall. Give children basic in handling rifles and spears, but none of them will stand in the front of this."

Theoden walked out the front gate as he passed by the soldiers that were bracing the main gate with steel plates. The king looked out at the wall from the gate, "We will cover the causeway and the gate from above with what turrets and heavy weapons we have leftover."

Jaune, Grun, Sun and Cardin walked up behind the King and gave their inputs on what to do for fortifications. "I saw that there were some weapons from the vehicles we wont be needing for this, we could line four Bushmaster chain guns along the wall."

Cardin nodded in agreement, "With just four, there's plenty of space between for rifleman and grenadiers to set up firing positions."

Jaune liked that they were optimistic, but this was still a losing battle. Advanced weapons don't always wing in battle, and these beasts don't care if they die, so long as they fulfill their mission.

"No enemy has ever made it's way thought he main gate in Mistral history, or set foot inside the keep." Theoden stated with pride.

"No disrespect, your grace," Grun spoke up, "but these monsters we will be facing aren't just Grimm… These are Uruk Hai, they were made for the purpose of war, and they have the strength and skill to prove that."

King Theoden looked to the wolf Faunus with a very serious look, "I have fought my share of monsters in my day, Mr. Grauel. I am aware that one must never take any of these creatures so lightly."

Theoden passed Grun; the group followed him up to the top of the keep as he spoke aloud, "They will break on this fortress like water on rock, like the hoards before them. That army can destroy a dozen villages and burn a thousand farms, but all can be rebuilt as our people survive and out last them behind these walls."

Jaune couldn't argue with his logic but he wasn't facing facts, "They aren't here to simply overthrow the kingdom, your grace, they are coming to wipe out its people!"

Theoden stopped in his tracks and turned to face Jaune, he walked up to him and gripped his shoulder, "WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME DO?!" he whispered sharply. "Look around you, these soldier's courage hangs by a thread… IF this is to be the end of Mistral, I will make it an end for all of Remnant to remember."

"We still have time to get everyone onto the shuttles and fly out of here," Jaune stated with a bit of optimism.

"There's only one hour of flight time in all of the fleet." Theoden thought of the same thing too, he didn't realize their lack of fuel until he learned of the army that is marching on them. "And even if we fill the shuttles with only children and elderly, even on full tanks, they would only reach the coast of Sanus before they run out of fuel…"

Jaune made a mental note, even if they fight, then maybe there's a chance for the children and elders to get out of this before it becomes a full on slaughter. Theoden turned away but was stopped again when Jaune asked, "Why not send messenger ships? Send out some kind of aid for help!"

"And who would come, Commander?" Theoden asked with a skeptical tone, "You're already here, so I imagine there isn't much else Vale could spare for us… Vacuo has never been one to send troops to aid anyone, why would they start now?"

"Atlas could answer," Jaune stated.

"ATLAS?!" Theoden hissed, "Where was Atlas when the southern lands burned? Where was Atlas when our enemies started surrounding us? Where was A-" Theoden stopped himself from rambling out loud in front of his men, he took a deep breath and finished what he had to say, "No, Commander Arc… We're on our own…"

Theoden walked away and made his way back up to the command center, Jaune turned to Cardin, "Order the crew of the flight deck to fuel as many as those shuttles as they can."

"You want to run?" Sun asked in confusion.

"No, but we can give some of the people a chance to live after this." Jaune stated, Cardin agreed and quickly made his way to the airfield.

Jaune looked to Grun and didn't even have to ask, whatever was coming for them, they were going to stand their ground together.

Ren and Nora sat on a high rise, just talking and sitting together. Ren looked up at the sky at how it began to turn grey, and the birds in the air were flying by in fear of something coming their way. "This reminds me too much of when Kuroyuri fell… similar atmosphere."

Nora looked up at it and recognized it too; "Yeah… calm before the storm is always the worst feeling."

"We should just leave…" Ren said out loud, "Escort everyone out of the fortress and just run."

"Where would we go?" Nora asked, "The best chance we have is if we stay together, Ren." She looked at him to see he began to get tense, the sudden reminder of his hometown's destruction began to bring light some of the pain he tried to lock away. Nora held his arm and wrapped hers around it, "I'm sure Jaune knows what he's doing…"

Ren couldn't help but grip his hands tightly on his knees, "I hope you're right…"

* * *

Treebeard had been walking for hours; Weiss was sitting near the top of his head shoulder branches, while Blake was a bit lower, in eye level with their Ent companion. Treebeard thought about asking, but didn't think it was worth the conversation. But since they have time to spend, he might as well ask.

"Ms. Belladonna, I have a question if you don't mind?" He looks at her ears; she let them be shown after she gave Weiss her bow to tie her hair up.

Blake could tell what he was looking at, but she was curious to what he had to ask, "Go ahead."

"I've seen as many Faunus as I have seen humans, in my day," Treebeard said "I could tell that your bow was covering your ears before. Why is that?"

"I do it so that I can pass as human in public," Blake said with a bit of shame in her voice.

Weiss remembered when she first learned of her ears, how Blake used her bow to hide among the humans. To Weiss, she felt it was unnecessary and dumb to hide what you are. But with the way people treated Faunus then, more so now, she understood why Blake wanted to continue to hide when around unfriendly humans.

"Does any other Faunus hide their animal features like you?" Treebeard asked in a curious tone. He never walked among the populace of the world, so this was all new information to him.

Blake thought of Ilia, but other than her, nobody came to mind, "A friend of mine, but all she ever did was try to keep her skin from changing color. Aside from her I haven't seen any other…"

"Why do you hide what you are?" Treebeard asked.

"Because humanity these days doesn't except us… some do…" She looks to Weiss, but then looks down, "but a lot of them hate us." Blake had a bit of frustration in her tone, "Especially after their involvement in the Battle of the Five Armies…"

Treebeard can understand her frustration, "So you choose to hide from them."

Blake started to feel offended, she looked at Treebeard in his big yellow eye, "You hide from them too, don't you? In this forest, surrounded by the trees."

Treebeard started to chuckle, as best he can in his raspy voice, "We do not hide, Ms. Belladonna… We prefer to live in the center of the forest instead of the outskirts, because the land is more fertile for our roots." Treebeard pointed down at the soil and dug his hand into it to show them. The dirt was very soft and wet, the perfect type for trees to bury their roots into.

Treebeard let the dirt fall and looked to Blake with an honest look, "We accept what we are because there is nothing that will change it. After all, we are trees." He said as he continued down the path he was on before, "But we can also walk, talk, think… and we accept what we are."

Blake didn't get his point, "I don't need to accept what I am! I am a Faunus!" Blake was starting to get frustrated.

Treebeard stopped walking and looked right at Blake in the eye, "And yet you choose to hide your ears when around strangers… You cannot accept what you are if you continue to hide what you are from humanity, by choice… How can they possibly accept you for what you are if you cannot accept yourself when around them?"

Blake was silent. She didn't know what to say to that. Weiss was surprised that a tree would have so much wisdom; were it not for the fact of being a tree, she'd recommend him to be a good councilor. Blake remained to be silent with nothing to say.

Treebeard started to feel he went too far, "Mmm… Forgive my forwardness, Ms. Belladonna. But I have lived in this world for a long time and it is hard to understand the way the outside world is at times."

Blake shakes her head, "No, I think you're right…"

Treebeard stopped walking, "Ahhh, we are here." They looked ahead to see an open area with a few stones set in a circle. "Something is about to happen that hasn't happened for a century… ' _Entmoot_ '."

"What is that?" Weiss asked with a bit of fear in his tone.

"'Tis a gathering," Treebeard said with a proud smile, as best can be seen under the green leaves that acted as his beard.

Weiss and Blake looked around at the tree line and saw some of the trees moving, walking in their direction. Weiss turned around to see some of the trees 'waking up' and walking up behind Treebeard.

Treebeard began to grin under his beard, "Beech. Oak. Chestnut. Ash. Good, good, good. Many have come."

As the trees surrounded the trio, some of them looked at Weiss and Blake with peculiar eyes. "Why are they staring at us?" Weiss asked in fear.

"Maybe they think you look weird," Blake smirked.

"You're not that far off."

Blake and Weiss look down to see Vernal down below, standing right by the feet of the Ents, "Most of these old barks haven seen humans or Faunus in centuries… besides Maidens of course."

"Lady Vernal, I'm glad you've come," Treebeard said as he placed Weiss and Blake on the ground, "Now is the time we decide whether or not the Ents will march in this war."

Vernal motioned for Weiss and Blake to follow her, "Come on, this is between the trees. I've put together a little picnic while we wait."

The two followed her from between the feet of the Ents, Weiss followed right beside Vernal, "Thank god, I'm starving."

Blake couldn't help but smirk, but before she followed she looked up at Treebeard. He motioned for her to go as he began to speak Entish with his kind.

* * *

In Helms Deep, soldiers began moving the civilians into the deeper sections of the fortress. One stood on top of a truck and shouted, "Any and all able bodied people between the age 15 and 60, please report to the armory to be given a weapon and armor for the coming siege. Please, we need all the people we can use against this."

As Jaune helped coordinate the defenses, Pyrrha helped guide her people within the fortress. Eowyn walked up to her, "I want to help."

Pyrrha looked at her cousin, "We need you inside the caves with our people."

"I can fight, you know I can," Eowyn said with a frustrated tone.

"That is why you will be our last line of defense…" Pyrrha tried her best not to get angry with Eowyn but she had no choice but to turn her away.

"That's not the only reason… I am to be the last survivor of the royal family. I know it wasn't your idea, it was Uncle's." Eowyn said with a contempt voice.

Pyrrha looked at Eowyn sharply, "If it were up to me, I'd give you my own weapon so that we could fight together… but it isn't."

Eowyn could see the conflict within her, and all she was doing was making it harder. Eowyn wrapped her arms around the girl she grew to love as a sister, she whispered, "Just make sure that you survive this… I can't lose you again…"

Pyrrha gripped her sister tight as she whispered back, "You wont."

As they let go, Eowyn followed the civilians into the cave and helped the elderly walk into the caverns behind the fortress.

As the civilians settled in, hundreds of men, women and teens said their possible farewells to their families as they walked back out of the cave to volunteer for the defense. If one listened hard enough, they could almost hear the sobs of mothers, fathers and children as the volunteers walked out of the cave.

* * *

Ren stood outside the barracks, he saw the volunteers walking in to get their armor and weapons. He began to grip his hands tightly, "That does it!"

"Ren, no!" Nora ran up to him to try to stop him, "Jaune is doing what he thinks is right to save everyone."

"What he is doing is suicide, and HE KNOWS IT!" Ren shouts as he moves past Nora and continues on.

As Ren walked in he saw Jaune handing out unloaded rifles to some of the men, some of them no older than 16. Ren cut though the line and stopped Jaune form handing another rifle, "What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm getting our people ready for a fight," Jaune answered with a confused look, "What's wrong?"

"Your giving guns to kids, you think there isn't something wrong with that?"

"We don't have the men to defend this fortress without them."

"Two thousand can't stand up to 20, you know that!"

"We have the fortress, the weapons, we have hunters! We have a chance!"

"Chance or not, it's suicide to say, WE SHOULD HAVE JUST RAN!" Ren shouted at the top of his lungs. "If the people in my village had run instead of fought, a lot more could have lived."

"Don't make this about Kuroyuri!" Jaune spat back, "And besides if it wasn't for the people fighting that Grimm, you wouldn't have made it out of the village alive with Nora."

"Stop pretending that you're doing this for them… I see the same eyes on you that I saw at the Spire…" Ren gripped his hands and spoke frankly, "You are trying to get yourself killed!"

Those words echoed in the room; little did Ren know that Pyrrha walked in behind him as he continued.

"You were trying to redeem yourself then, you still are now… I don't see why anymore," Ren walked up to Jaune and grabbed his shoulders. "WE forgave you… SHE forgave you… Ruby FORGAVE YOU! Why can't you?!"

Jaune had nothing to say, not that he was angry or shocked, just because there were no words that came to him to use. Ren let go of Jaune and realized how much damage he had done to the morality of the men and women around him.

Jaune looked at the faces of the soldiers, "Don't you people have positions to get to?"

Just then everyone started moving and continuing what they were doing before. Ren left the room with Nora right behind him.

Jaune walked over to one of the benches and sat down. Pyrrha walked up to him and sat down beside him. "Are you really trying to kill yourself?" She didn't believe her own question, but she felt that it needed to be asked.

Jaune gripped the bench with his hands as his head looked down, "I didn't think I was… but now…" He quickly thought about the whole argument all over again and realized out it must have sounded from Ren's perspective. "I was giving guns to kids… no younger than when Ruby first started… What kind of man does that?"

Pyrrha put her arm over his shoulder and held him tightly, "Someone who is trying to protect these people… protect my people." She then pulls his right arm off the bench and pulled it over her shoulders as she hugged his body, "And that's enough for me."

* * *

Nora followed Ren as he left the barracks as he made his way to the main gate. The doors weren't fully sealed, so he was allowed to exit the gate and let him stand on the causeway. He stood there, thinking deeply about the situation.

Nora walked up to the gate, one of the guards asked if there was something wrong and she told them it was personal. She walked slowly up to Ren and stood beside him, she looked up at him to see he had his eyes closed and was breathing heavily, like he was meditating.

"What are you doing out here?" Nora asked with a bit of worry in her voice.

Ren took a deep breath, "I needed a place to breath air that didn't smell like burning dust exhaust. Why doesn't he just suck in his pride and run… our people would have a better chance…"

Nora looked to him, "Jaune has pride, like every other person I've met, but he isn't stupid. If he thinks our people have a better chance at surviving by staying, then it's worth a try."

Ren gripped his hands, "But how!?" He looked at Nora with a slightly agitated look, "How can he know that it's the better choice?"

Nora turned towards him and looked up at him in the eye, "Two years ago, we set out to reclaim what we lost, our school, our home, our family. We asked Jaune to lead us, even though he thought he was the last person who should lead. But we still followed him, not because we knew something he didn't, or because he knew what needed to happen to win."

Ren's grip on his hands loosened as he started to understand the point she was making.

Nora continued, "We followed him because we had something the world was sorely lacking faith. We had faith that Jaune would be able to lead us, and our faith was proven right. We had faith in him then, and we should have faith in him now. Underneath that gruff, scarred warrior is our dorky fearless leader."

Ren couldn't help but smirk at her bluntness at the end. He then held his arms out as Nora wrapped hers around his body, not too tight this time, "There are times you surprise me."

Right then he realized how much of a jerk he was for calling Jaune out in front of everyone, and now he needs to apologize.

* * *

Meanwhile in the main hall, King Theoden was standing by a window that looked over most of the wall below. He saw several teenaged kids holding rifles and wearing some armor plates that were too big for them.

It broke his heart to see children being asked to fight in war, it also reminded him of what his granduncle Themistocles' stories of the first Great War. And now he was seeing it happen again before his eyes.

Robin walked up behind Theoden and stood at attention, "Your grace, as you ordered, every able bodied man, woman and teenager has been given a weapon and stationed in adequate positions for the defense."

Theoden said nothing; he simply looked out the window at his orders being carried out. He then broke the silence, "Who am I, Colonel Loxely?"

Robin didn't understand the question, "Your grace?"

"Who am I?" He asked again.

"You are our King, sire," Robin replied with a calm tone.

Theoden turned around to face Robin, "Do you trust me to be your king?"

"Yes, your grace," Robin said with a serious look, "And I know for a fact, that every soldier out there would follow you to whatever end."

Theoden smiled at the praise, and then held his hand out to Robin, "Promise me one thing…"

Robin took his hand, "Anything."

"Ensure that my family survives this battle, Pyrrha and Eowyn," he didn't speak to him as a king, he spoke to him as an Uncle that loved his nieces. Robin could see it in his eyes, and he accepted the promise.

* * *

At the Entmoot; Treebeard was still speaking, or 'groaning', in his Entish speech. He and the other Ents have been speaking for hours; the sun was setting over the tree line.

Weiss, Blake and Vernal were sitting under a large Oak tree, eating some of the fruits and vegetables that Vernal brought with her.

Weiss started to groan, "This has been going on for four hours."

"They must have decided something by now," Blake spoke with slight optimism.

Treebeard stopped speaking in Entish and turned towards the girls, "Decided? No… we have only just finished saying… 'hello'."

Weiss just gripped her hands out of frustration, "HELLO?! Why does it take so long just to say one word?!"

"Entish is a very slow speech, Ms. Schnee. It takes a long time to say what needs to be said, so one must learn to be patient when speaking," Treebeard said with a bit of pride in his tone.

"Then why don't you just speak in common tongue? You're speaking pretty quickly in that," Blake stated.

Treebeard nodded his head, "Yes you are right, it is much faster… but I am one of the few in this circle that can speak, let alone understand, common tongue."

Both girls couldn't help but slam their hands on their foreheads. To their annoyance, Vernal started laughing. "What's so funny?" Blake asked with a bit of frustration.

"I could have told you that two hours ago…" Vernal said with a few chuckles.

Weiss gripped her hands tightly, "And you decided to tell us now, because?"

"I wanted to see the looks on your faces," Vernal chuckled again.

Blake rolled her eyes and looked back up at Treebeard, "We can't just stand around speaking a sentence that lasts a day. We need to get out there and HELP! Our friends need us!"

Treebeard started to feel a bit annoyed, "Don't be hasty."

"We are running out of time, Treebeard. Please…" Weiss almost pleaded with the old tree. He could see the worry on her face, and felt they were right. So he turned back to the others and continued the meeting, but this time at a faster pace.

* * *

Jaune and Pyrrha were asked to check on different battlements. After inspecting one of the turret placements, Jaune saw a teen boy holding his rifle wrong. He looked to be 19 or so, he had green eyes, black hair and he looked more nervous than a rookie on his first day for basic training.

When he turned towards Jaune, he motioned for him to come over to him. Jaune was sitting on the wide stairs that lead up to the keep, luckily it was wide enough for him to sit there without getting in the way. As he walked up, Jaune had a good look at his rifle, HK416, Mistral standard issue for their riflemen; it had a laser dot sight with a bayonet attachment.

"You scared?" Jaune asked. The teen nodded, Jaune held out his hands, "Let me see your rifle."

After receiving it, Jaune held to his shoulder, "What's your name?"

"Oscar Pine, sir," He said with a nervous tone.

Jaune looked down the scope and was pleased to see he was using 'laser dot' sights, he looked at Oscar, "You ever held one of these before?"

"No, never had a reason to before now," Oscar replied truthfully.

"What are you really?" Jaune asked.

"Farmer," Oscar answered.

Jaune then realized who he was talking to, "Oh, I remember you… you showed up with your sister about your home village being attacked."

"My cousin, actually," Oscar corrected, he then made a small smile, "I'm also happy to say my aunt managed to make it here too when King Theoden ordered the evacuations."

Jaune smiled back, "That's good to hear. It always helps to have someone or something worth fighting for when you go into battle."

Oscar's smile faded when he spoke, "Is it ok if I asked you a question, Commander?"

Jaune raised an eyebrow, "Sure."

"I heard from some of the men that we wont survive this…" Oscar sat down beside Jaune, "I want to fight… But I don't want to die…"

Jaune lowered the rifle onto his lap, "That's what every soldier thinks before the battle starts, and when they go into the fight with that kind of attitude, they end up dying anyway. At least, that's what my sister Carol would often say to me."

Jaune then stood up and motioned for Oscar to stand up too, "Show me how you hold this."

Oscar took the rifle, but he held it awkwardly, it almost made Jaune laugh. "No, no… First you hold the rifle to your dominant shoulder, make sure there is no space between them, or else you'll bruise your shoulder worse than if it was on it."

Oscar held it as he was told, Jaune continued, "Look thought the sight, see the laser dot?"

"Yes."

"You want to make sure that dot is on the crosshair at the end of the rifle, that's how you know where your shot will go."

Jaune then pointed at his hand, "When you shoot, make sure you squeeze the trigger, don't pull it or you'll fail your shot. You need to be 'surprised' when you fire for it to hit where you want it to go."

"Where did you learn all this stuff?" Oscar asked with a bit of a smile, but it went away when Jaune looked at him, "Sir."

Jaune chuckled, "I may not fight with rifles, but my sister made sure I knew how to use them if I need to. Now, when you're reloading, make sure the magazine is pointed down the barrel, not back at you. And pull back on the charging handle to allow the next bullet into the chamber for your next volley."

Oscar pulled the magazine out and put it back in, and then pulled back on the charging handle, it took him a second to pull on it but he managed to pull it open. As it opened it ejected an unused bullet that was already in the chamber, Jaune caught it as it flew out. Oscar let the handle go and loaded the new bullet.

"Not bad, do you know how to shoot?" Jaune asked as he put the bullet into a magazine from Oscar's belt and puts it in his back pocket.

Oscar noticed what he did but let it go to answer, "No. Never was much of a hunter."

"Well, when this is over, and you want to learn, I can recommend you for Beacon." Jaune said with a smile, he then pointed at the sight as he explained a method Carol taught him, "When aiming at a moving target, you want to 'lead' the target as it moves, keep the dot ahead of it; when you think you have him, squeeze until you fire."

"Where's the best place to shoot these things?" Oscar asked as he lowered the rifle, "You've fought these things before, right?"

"A few times, they like to act like humans… most of the time." He then pointed at his neck and armpit, "Aim for these parts of the body, and I guarantee you that it'll go down. From a rifle like yours; it should take them down with no more than three bullets, in either place."

Oscar nodded in understanding, Jaune then put his hand on his shoulder, "When it starts, don't think about the enemy out there, think about your family in the caves… Think about the need to protect them, let it drive you to fight as hard as you can."

Oscar nodded, and as Jaune turned to leave, he called out, "Sir, you put that magazine in my pocket… why?"

Jaune turned back, "Best to have one in reserve, in case of emergencies." Oscar smiled a 'thank you' and walked away to his post. What Jaune didn't tell him was that he put a bit of his aura into the bullets, enough to make them armor piercing, that way Oscar has a better chance of making it out of this.

* * *

Jaune went back to the barracks to put on his armor and load his magazines. After five minutes of suiting up, he turns around to go get Joyuse from the hook behind him and found it in Ren's hand.

Ren hands the sword to him, "I've trusted this far, and you have proven to me more than once that you are worthy of your leadership…" Jaune took the sword as he smiled, Ren then held his hand up to Jaune, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean what I said…"

Jaune took his hand and grabbed his forearm, as Ren did to his, "There is nothing to forgive, Gēgē." The last word Jaune said was in Ren's native language, it means 'brother'. Pyrrha finished arming up too, seeing her boyfriend and best friend make up warmed her heart.  
"Damn it, they said they adjusted it!"

All three turned to see Nora struggling to put her Mithril shirt back on after having some of the rings adjusted. She gets it on but she doesn't look comfortable. Jaune and Ren give her a look of 'are you ok?', to which she responds, "It's a little tight across the chest…"

Just then they heard a proximity alarm go off, Pyrrha recognized this one in particular, "That's not a hostile alarm, it's friendlies…"

Everyone rushed out of the barracks to see what was going on. As they got outside they heard the soldiers give orders to open the main gate, from there they saw several military armored personnel carriers and minor armored vehicles. All of which were pained with the Sky Knights of Vacuo on the sides of the trucks.

The head truck stopped just outside the main entrance to the fortress embedded in the mountainside. Out of the passenger side came a familiar and welcomed friend. John Smith, the Star Knight of Vacuo, had arrived.

From the seat behind him came out a woman; she had brown hair in a ponytail and brown eyes. She was wearing a dark purple leather jacket, purple scarf, blue jeans and boots. She didn't seem like someone from the military, yet she seemed confident enough to feel she belonged there.

John stood at attention and bowed his head to King Theoden who had arrived to the scene with pure shock on his face, "How did you know to come here?"

John smiled, "We received your distress beacon all the way to Menagerie. Menagerie seemed safe without us, and the Head Chieftain agreed. As for why we all came; in the last war, Vacuo faced destruction, but King Leonidas and his Brave 300 saved our people."

Jaune and the others arrived to see John, they was overjoyed to see the arrival of reinforcements. John continued, "We've come to honor that debt."

Jaune ran up to John and hugged him, John quickly return the hug, Jaune let go, "You always seem to know when to show up to save our asses, huh?"

"You get yourselves into trouble too often for me to pass it up," John replied with a smirk, he then turned to his troops and motioned for them to unload from the trucks, "We are here to stand and fight for Mistral."

"As am I."

Jaune turned to the woman John brought with him, "Forgive me, but, who are you?"

She looked to Jaune for a second then realized, "Oh, yeah. Because of the war, you never had a chance to meet me." She held out her hand and shook hands with Jaune, "Hello, I'm Megara, I'm the new Fall Maiden."

Jaune and Pyrrha both were surprised by her arrival, not that they didn't expect to meet the new Maiden to hold the power of Fall, but that it would be under these circumstances.

Theoden began to smile, he started to feel hope, "We can do it… we can win…" He then turned to Jaune and John, "Commander Arc, coordinate with Commander Smith and integrate the Sky Knights with our defense."

Both stood at attention, Jaune bowed while replying, "Yes, your grace."

* * *

Now that the Sky Knights of Vacuo have arrived, the force they brought with them is 3,000 strong. Adding to the 3.5 thousand that were already there and the few hundred volunteers, the defense force reached 7 thousand fighters, four Huntsmen teams, two Star Knights and a Fall Maiden.

Jaune coordinated with all the commanders to arrange the defense properly, with what they have to work with. The Vacuo knights were assigned to man the Deeping Wall, command the Bushmaster Turrets and the mortars set up behind the wall. John will be helping defend the wall as well.

The mountainside behind the fortress was honeycombed with tunnels and cave openings along the side of the mountain. The cave openings would be set up as posts for snipers and reserve fighters, they would help out in the fight however they could from their position. Some would even use rockets on larger Grimm that may try to breach the Wall.

All the Mistral and volunteers were stationed in the main keep, manning the turrets and standing at standby for any possible close quarters battle that may be coming. Some have even been stationed at the main gate in case the enemy tries to breach the door.

Megara was set up in the main keep, but if she saw that the Wall needed her she would go down to aid the fight. She has limited experience in combat, but with her newly granted Maiden abilities she feels confident that she can handle this fight. Jaune gave her Weiss' Myrtenaster for extra power and a last line of defense if she ran out of power with her abilities.

They divided the teams to where they felt they were needed most; Teams JNPR, GMBL and SSSN will be posted on the Deeping Wall. Their priority would be to help the Vacuo Knights keep the Uruks and Grimm off the wall. Team CRDL would be stationed in the Main Keep; they did well proving themselves as good defenders when helping the Mistral civilians before JNPR arrived in the capital.

And in the event that the defense doesn't hold up, Jaune asked Cardin to organize the civilian pilots and ferry captains to refuel their aircraft with all they have left. The civilians were placed next to the air-pad that way they can reach the planes at a moments notice.

Jaune asked Grun, John, Sun and Cardin to meet him at the causeway to the main gate to give one last look over the fortress. Jaune had Blake's Gamble Shroud strapped to his back; he was planning on using it in the fight in the event he needed an extra gun or extra blade. That and he wanted to make sure it wouldn't be lost in the chaos of the battle. He may not be able to use it to it's peak capabilities like Blake, but he'll do what he can with it.

"It's a solid defense," Jaune said as he looked to the others for their input, "Not perfect, but it's strong."

"I've been though my fair share of sieges," John stated, "Worked with less and made it out, but never against odds like these. I think our chances are high."

"I'll be a long, long night. But it'll be a night that will be spoken for years," Sun said while stretching his arms over his head, "Stories, songs, maybe a few movies…"

"I just hope we live long enough to tell those stories," Cardin said with a slightly nervous tone.

Jaune notices that Grun hasn't said anything, "What do you think, Grun?"

Grun crossed his arms, "I know a guy who fell of a five story building, the people inside on every floor as he passed by heard him say 'so far so good'." Everyone starts to chuckle a bit. "Blitz wore a cast for a week after that."

Jaune could feel a bit of a chill run down his back, so did Grun and John, "Lets head in. We have a long night ahead of us."

* * *

The moonlight lit the whole fortress; they could hear the thunder of a storm that was coming their way. All the soldiers were in their positions, just standing there, waiting for the coming battle.

Cardin looked out from the Keep and looked out beyond the fortress and saw the army of Uruks and feral Grimm marching their way though the night. They were still a few miles from the fortress, but the sight of them from his perch was enough to make him sweat bullets.

Along the Deeping Wall, Nora and Ren were standing together; they started to hear the loud stomps of the Uruks, marching in formation. Nora began to groan in frustration, "You couldn't have picked a better spot?"

Ren turned to her; despite her age, she still remains to be the shortest of the group. From where Ren looked, the ramparts of the castle wall stood a few inches taller than Nora. "It's not my fault the ramparts are taller than you." Nora rolled her eyes.

Jaune and Pyrrha walked along the wall and made it to the center to meet up with Ren and Nora. Nora looked at Jaune, "Well, whatever luck saved you earlier, lets it hopes it lasts the night."

Jaune nodded in agreement, Pyrrha could see the fear on his face and took his hand. Ren turned to him, "Your friends are with you, through and through."

"Lets hope they last the night," Macht said with a skeptical tone. All four hunters looked to him and Jaune replied, "Thanks for the vote of confidence."

The storm thundered loudly above them, it quickly began to rain. Neptune looked up and exclaimed, "Damn it… not now…" he then put his goggles over his eyes, and held his rifle at the ready.

"Forget your umbrella suit?" Scarlet asked jokingly.

Neptune rolled his eyes, "Shut up."

The Uruks and Grimm marched closer to the fortress. Their stomps began to resonate in the ground, echoing thought the caves and tunnels in the mountain behind the fortress. Alpha stood on a tall rock and howled at the top of his lungs, ordering the army to continue forward.

John walked along the wall, speaking into his radio to his men, "Stand strong with your brothers and sisters beside you. Giving into fear is what they want and we will not let them get their satisfaction."

Alpha howled loudly, ordering the army to halt their advance and stand at the ready. The feral Grimm that followed them thus far stayed back as well, following the hybrid creature as their own leader.

The anticipation of the coming fight began to weigh heavily on the soldiers. Tens of thousands of monsters, standing at attention outside their perimeter, waiting for something, while all the soldiers in the fortress stood there, some were already quaking in their armor out of pure fear of the sight. The creatures began to growl and grunt, they were hungry, they were angry and they were ready to slaughter on command.

Nora jumped a few times to try to see over the rampart but had no luck, "What's happening out there?"

"Should I describe it to you?" Macht asked, he then looked at her with a smirk, "Or should Ren put you on his shoulders?"

Nora gave a sarcastic smile, "Ha. Ha. Ha…" followed by her sticking her tongue out at him.

Alpha howled again, this time the other Uruks gave out their own individual war cries. Howls from wolf like Uruks, 'caw's from bird types, and a few roars from the other variants. As they chanted, they slammed their feat on the ground like loud drums.

Jaune drew Joyuse from it's sheath; he could tell that this was a means to scare the defenders, so he ignored it and stood strong for those around him. Pyrrha held her weapons at the ready as well, she saw John do it too with his broadsword 'Freedom's Will'.

Mistral soldiers pointed their weapons down at the field and had their fingers on the triggers. Whatever was about to happen, they were waiting with fear until it came.

The stomping of their feet and war cries began to become faster paced and louder. The noise became loud enough for those in the caves to hear it echo muffled sounds of the monsters baring their teeth outside.

One of the Mistral soldiers sneezed while accidently shooting his rifle; the bullet flew and hit an Uruk in the neck. Jaune put his hand on the radio, "HOLD YOUR FIRE!"

The Uruk fell to the ground dead; seeing this, all the Uruks around the dead one began to growl even more angrily and bloodthirsty than before. Alpha let out one more howl, this time with orders that meant 'leave no survivors'.

The army then charged full sprint at the fortress, with no real formation to be seen, just a hoard of monsters charging forward. Even the feral Grimm charged along with them, acting without a care at all into this battle.

"So it begins," Theoden says under his breath.

John turns on the radio channel that connects to only the Vacuo Knights, "Riflemen, at the ready."

Along the wall, all the Sky Knights that were posted closest to the front held their weapons out and aimed down the field. Some of them were quaking in their hands, but they stood tall and prepared for what came next.

Jaune spoke into the radio, "Friendly reminder; aim for their necks and/or armpits, their armor is weakest in those placements."

John then gave the order, "UNLEASH HELL!" All the Sky Knights began opening fire with their automatic rifles; the turret emplacements began firing as well. While the riflemen were going for individual targets, the turrets try to spread their shots like a single stream sprinkler, trying to disperse the front lines as best they can.

Nora climbed up a bit on the rampart to see what was going on, "Come on, how are we doing already?"

The front line of the Uruks did sustain some damage, but it did not slow down those behind them. They didn't care if any of their fellow beasts went down, they just charged forward like a hoard of rats.

Theoden looked to Robin, "Lets join in on this fight, shall we?"

"Yes sir," Robin said with a smirk, "All soldiers, engage!"

The Keep began opening fire on the hoard as well. Like the wall's attempts, it did not slow down the advancing enemies.

As the army got closer to the wall, Jaune turned around to behind the wall, "Mortars, let them have it!" He even gave Nora the go ahead to shoot some of her grenades over the side.

Several explosions impacted just a few feet away from the wall and hit a lot of the front line creatures, but they still did not falter. They charged forward with no delay and no sign of slowing down.

Nora jumped up and down a few times, "I bet I got at least 12, maybe more…"

As the army got closer to the wall, their 'Marksman' soldiers pulled out their rifles and began opening fire on the troops along the wall. Some of them were able to get lucky shots and knock people off the wall.

Just then the army met the wall, Jaune could see something being passed up between some of them and quickly realized what it was, "LADDERS!"

Nora grinned, "GOOD!" she then converted Manghild into its hammer form.

The ladders were set up near the base of the wall and were being turned upward, with a Marauder Uruk riding the ladder all the way to the top.

John put his hand on his radio, "All troops on the wall, reset for close quarters!"

Just then the Sky Knights that were in front backed off as some ladders came up in front of them, they extended the bladed end of their rifles while others put their ranged weapons around their back and drew their short swords.

The first creatures they fought were the Marauder Uruks that landed on the wall. They acted as berserkers, flailing their large bastard swords around, trying to hit anyone they could. One came down right over Nora, but she quickly slammed it in the chest with her hammer and blasted it off the wall.

More and more Marauders jumped off their ladders with dozens more Uruks climbing up the ladder behind them. John wasted no time engaging them with his men; these creatures fought like men but were no smarter than the average Grimm, dispatching them seemed somewhat easy.

Jaune didn't hesitate to open up his shield in this fight; these things were hard enough the first time, now they have the strength in quantity. He did mostly shield bashing, slamming his shield against their helmets, disorientating them, giving him an opening to stab though the chest with his glowing sword.

Pyrrha fought side by side with Ren as they were taking on two Marauders and other Uruks that were coming up the ladder next to them. To slow them down, Pyrrha fired her javelin at the ladder, knocking it back over and then used her polarity to pull the sword back to her and continued fighting.

Ren did a mix of slashing and shooting, not giving the Uruks a chance to react to his method. He even kicked a few off the wall hard enough that they ended up crashing into other Uruks that didn't even reach the wall yet.

As a Marauder knocked Neptune down when it came on his blind spot while he was shooting, it was quickly knocked off the wall hard by Nora's hammer. She then turned around to Macht who was flinging an Uruk off the side with his bladed whip. "Hey, Macht, 14 already!"

"I'm on 19, now," Macht said with a smirk.

"AH!" She groaned as she slammed her hammer down on another Uruk, "I'll have no whiplash punk out score me!" She then fired another grenade over the side, causing three ladders to fall over and hit the ground below.

Sun spun his staff around, hitting a few Uruks hard enough to force them to the ground. He switched to his shotgun-chucks and shot some of them down while only aggravating others by hitting their armor plates.

Neptune continued to shoot any Uruks that were still coming; he even shot down a ladder and killed four Uruks with his electric shots before they could jump off. He quickly converted his rifle into its trident form and electrified another ladder and zapped about six Uruks until they fell off. He may not be a fan of water, but right now it was helping him out by making the ladders wet and conductive.

Grun slashed his claws-gauntlets across some of their necks while jumping on the backs of others to stab them behind the head. He quickly saw a Marauder go for Leere when she wasn't looking, so he flung his blades forward on their chain, as it wrapped around a Marauder's neck, he pulled on it hard, "GET OVER HERE!" knocking it back on it's butt.

Leere moved too quickly for the Uruks around her to react as she would stabbed them in their eyes, slit their throats or stabbed them in the heart at the weak point in their armor. Blitz stood beside her, using his tonfas to bash some heads and knock some Uruks on their butts, giving the soldiers around them a chance to stab them or shoot them before they can get back up.

Sage wiped the floor with any Marauder that dared to cross blades with him, but he couldn't keep up if Scarlet wasn't watching his back. A Warlock Uruk with a lighting Dust started shooting at them, Sage blocked with his blade easily. Scarlet managed to hold it down by latching his grappling hook on it's staff and forcing it to the ground, Sage then ran at it and brought his sword down on it and ran it though the chest before the Uruk could react.

The snipers along the mountainside took shots any chance they could, keeping the heroes from getting too overwhelmed and/or keeping heavy Uruks from causing too much damage to the defenders. The mortar operators continued their barrage, although they were soon to be out of ammunition if the battle continues to go at this pace.

The Main keep continued firing on the Uruks from their high rise, as much as they want to help the wall, they must hold their position and hold their current post. Robin himself even fired a few dust arrows to try to relieve the pressure off the wall. Megara held her hands to the sky and cause some lighting strikes to come down on the central mass of the army, but it did nothing to quell their blood lust and rage to fight.

Jaune made his way to John, both fought back to back, keeping the Uruks off each other, as they talked, "Not so bad for the start!" he shouted over the metal clashing and growls.

"Yeah, I've dealt with worse beginings!" John said back with an optimistic smirk.

They try to fight a positive moment in all this chaos, but they both know the truth: this night has officially begun.

* * *

 **AN: Damn… I cannot tell you how long I've been waiting to publish this chapter.  
Mostly because I've been very distracted this past month, a lot of personal drama really.**

 **I'm going to do my best to keep up from here on out, but I make no promises, sorry.**

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I hope you liked my little refrences I put if you noticed them. Have a happy 4** **th** **of July, and have a good month.**

 **Oh, I almost forgot, ARKOS!**


	19. Midnight in Mistral

**Midnight in Mistral**

* * *

 **AN: I'm back with the next chapter!**

 **The Battle for Mistral rages on, and our heroes are still fighting.**

* * *

Treebeard had just finished talking with his fellow Ents in the Entmoot and walked over to the three women who were waiting on him. He then spoke softly, "We have just decided…"

Weiss and Blake stood up from their picnic to listen to what he had to say, but to their complete confusion, it looked like he was starting to fall asleep while standing up. They didn't say anything for about thirty seconds before Weiss spoke up, "Well?"

Treebeard suddenly inhaled a snore and woke up, "I have told them of your names and who you two are to the others and they have agreed… you two are not our enemies, and should be allowed traverse our land as much as you want."

Both Blake and Weiss waited for a second thinking there was more, but he didn't continue, Weiss then replied, "Well, that's good news, I guess."

Blake rolled her eyes, "What about Saruman, and the war? Have you come to a decision on what you'll do?"

Treebeard held his hand out in a calming motion, "Now, don't' be hasty, Miss Belladonna."

"Hasty? HASTY?!" Blake grips her hands and looks Treebeard hard in the eye; "We're sitting here, doing NOTHING while our friends are out there fighting a war that WE could be helping them out in."

Treebeard hummed in understanding, "War. Yes, it affects us all; tree, root and twig, all the same. But you must understand, Ms. Belladonna that speaking in Old Entish is an old practice. The only time we say it is when something is worth talking about, and sometimes talking can take a long time, whether we like it or not."

* * *

Back at Helms Deep, the battle has reached its peak. The Uruks have shown no sign of slowing down their assault, and the defenders have been holding their own pretty well against the army.

"17! 18! 19! 20!" Nora stood on the rampart of the wall, right between two ladders that Uruks were climbing up. She swung her hammer, aiming for their heads, instantly killing them with every swing of her hammer. But no matter how many she killed, more continued to climb the ladder. Not that Nora cared, though. "21! 22! AND 23!"

Along the wall, all the other hunters and Vacuo Knight have been holding their own as well. Jaune and Ren had kept the central turret defense guarded as the gunner continued his fire on the army behind the wall. The same can be said for the other hunter defenders, protecting the turrets is one of the few priorities the wall defenders have.

Meanwhile, the snipers stationed on the cave entrances on the mountainside did their best to pick off targets like berserking Marauders and Warlocks before they can do any lasting damage to the soldiers on the wall or the mortar teams that were behind.

Back at the main keep, the Mistral soldiers and their volunteer militia continued their constant barrage of bullets, mortars and dust attacks on the bulk of the army that was within range. On the main causeway, soldiers could be seen with body shields stacked up and placed in rows, covering the soldiers as they walked up the ramp to the main gate.

The soldiers at the main gate started shooting at the column, but it would appear that the body sized shields the Uruks were holding were extremely resistant to gunfire. There was barely a dent in them, let alone a crack. However, some shots were lucky enough to make it in between the armor plates and hit a few Uruks. But for every Uruk that fell, another creature in the column took its place and continued marching forward.

Robin looked at the approaching column, he took it as an insult; the method they were using resembled that of the phalanx tactic that had been used in Mistral for centuries. However, he noticed that the side of the column was mostly exposed, "Arc, do you copy? The gate is about to be hit hard with a force, do you have any turrets to spare?"

Jaune kicked an Uruk off the wall as he heard the message on the radio, he looked and saw the column and quickly cursed under his breath, "Turret's 2 and 3, shift your targets to the causeway, hit them with whatever you got!"

Both turret operators rotated and fired immediately with their chain guns. Their shots were cutting down a majority of the column at the front; however, the Uruk's quickly shifted the positioning of their shields to compensate for their opening. Their shields were holding against the chain gun's bullets, but a lot more lucky bullets going between shields went through and killed Uruks.

At the top of the keep, Theoden looked over the battle, he had a bit of a proud smile. Pride over his troops, in spite of the odds, they are doing it, they are holding. "Is this it?" He asked out loud, "Is this all you have, Saruman?"

* * *

In the bulk of the Uruk Hai army, Alpha stood on his perch, watching the battle progress just as he was expecting. _"On to phase two."_ Alpha thought to himself as he immediately howled as loud as he could over the gunfire. His orders commanded the Uruks to bring up the bombs to prepare to blow the wall.

Pairs of Uruks, holding large metal spiked spheres. Two of them were brought to the drainage pipe right between turret's 2 and 3 under the wall. The Uruks placed them down, some of them started to growl a chuckle.

* * *

Jaune looked over the side briefly and saw two Uruks walking though the hoard; they were carrying something big and metal. If Saruman and Locus managed to give these things guns and dust, something big and metal could only mean one thing.

He drew his pistol but was immediately knocked out of his hand by an Uruk that got the drop on him. An unseen sniper then shot off its head. Jaune could see the smoke trail from the rifle's bullet. He turned to see that his Desert Eagle had fallen off the wall and towards the ground behind it.

Jaune quickly turned to Pyrrha a few yards, as she was shooting her rifle at some Uruks that were climbing up a nearby ladder. "PYRRHA!" Jaune shouted over the gunfire and metal clashing, she looked to him as he points to the ground. "BOMB! TAKE IT OUT!"

Pyrrha turned to see what he was referring to and started shooting. She kept firing until one of the Uruks carrying the bomb was killed, forcing the other to drop the bomb.

Jaune looked down and saw some of the Uruks moving away from the wall right under his area, he then turned around to Ren, who was right beside him and hugged him tightly.

* * *

Alpha had no idea whether all the bombs were in place, just that there was enough to do what it was meant for. He held the detonator, flipped the switch that turned on a yellow light, and then pressed the red button.

* * *

 ** _KABOOM!_**

The two bombs that were already in place went off in an explosion of fire and lighting shooting straight up, thrusting thousands of tons of concrete, rebar and solid stone into the air. The one bomb that didn't reach its intended placement went off near the front of the army, setting fire to a few dozen Uruks.

The explosion sent thousands of rock fragments like bullets in almost all directions. Dozens of soldiers were caught in the blast, most were dead instantly from the explosion, while others hit the ground hard and found themselves with broken limbs due to the impact of their landings.

The explosion could have been heard beneath the fortress, in the cave system below. It echoed for a whole minute before dissipating. Outside, the falling debris from the wall landed on the army of Uruks and Grimm, but not enough to cause any real damage to their overall force.

* * *

Alpha looked on his work and showed a dark smile on his snout. He then howled new orders, move into the breach and take the fortress. It was evident he was enjoying himself as the commander of this attack.

* * *

Sun and Neptune were close to turret three when the explosion when off, fire and shrapnel hit them both causing major injuries. Sun's left arm was burned badly from the flash-fire. Sun lifted himself back up with his non-burnt hand and moved to Neptune, "Hey, Neptune, you ok?"

Sun rolled him over and saw that Neptune's left eye was impaled by a sharp piece of stone that hit him. "Oh my god, bro, you hear me?" Neptune groaned in pain, but he was alive.

Scarlet and Sage got back up from being pushed over by the shockwave, they saw their team mates in trouble and instantly stated running to their aid, Scarlet started shouting for a medic to tend to Neptune's eye and Sun's arm.

Grun and Nora were both knocked off their feet, like all the others that were on the wall but didn't get hurt by the direct explosion. Grun looked to see that Macht was fine but Leere had a fragment of stone in her leg.

Pyrrha and John were fine as well, little shaken up to what just happened, but they were alive. Unfortunately for some that were close to the explosion but not enough to be thrown over the wall, were on fire due to the fire dust that spread outward. Seeing the men on fire scared Pyrrha, her arms quickly began to tremble at the sight of fire spreading and people being burned by it.

Being at ground zero, Jaune and Ren were both thrown high up and hit the ground hard just a couple yards inside the wall. They were both out cold, and covered in scrapes, bruises and small burns. Were it not for Jaune's wings that showed up briefly and surrounded the two, they would have been in worse shape that they were now.

* * *

Over by the main keep, CRDL and all the other defenders stared in terror as to what just happened. One minute there was a wall there, now there was a big gaping hole in it.

Theoden looked in horror; he had so much hope that the fortress would be enough to handle these beasts. But he had no though for a possibility that they could have the technology to break the wall, let alone blow a hole in it. All he hoped now was that his niece Pyrrha was okay down there, and that at least one of the Star Knights down there was still in the fight.

Megara quickly used her abilities to fly towards the river that was flowing behind the fortress; there she started gathering water.

Theoden looked down at the causeway and saw something happen to the column of Uruks; something was coming up between some of them. Just then a battering ram emerged at the front of the column, "BRACE THE GATE, NOW!"

* * *

Jaune and Ren were starting to wake up, they tried to get their hands and feet underneath them, but their bodies were sore. Both their ears were ringing, completely unable to hear for almost thirty seconds before they started to hear the sounds of gunfire and monsters roaring in the distance.

Just then, the Uruks were starting to make their way to the breach, as if on cue, Megara unleashed all the water she held back and made a brief tidal wave that swept a few dozen off the Uruks off their feet and into the ground. But even this was proving to have little effect to their overall forces.

Nora got back on her feet and saw Jaune and Ren down on the ground, right in front of the breach where many of the Uruks were making their way. Without thinking she started running towards the hole in the wall. She jumped up high and slammed her hammer down hard while firing an explosion into the water.

To Nora's surprise, the water was slightly electrified from the explosion, so she was able to swing her hammer as easily as a piton. Crushing skulls, breaking chest plates and blasting foes away. She did her best to give Jaune and Ren time to get back on their feet, but she was quickly knocked down by a sudden ice blast to the chest by an enemy Warlock with an ice staff.

Ren and Jaune saw her hit the ground in front of htem. "NORA!" Ren shouted as he wanted to get in there to help, but Jaune held him back and pushed him down to his knees.

Jaune put his left finger in his left earpiece and spoke orders, "All snipers on the mountain side, concentrate your fire on the breach, RAPID FIRE!"

Jaune and Ren could then hear dozens of 'whizzing' sounds of bullets traveling over them and impacting the troops that were entering the breach. Once Jaune was sure that the snipers were done firing and reloading, he stood back up, while grabbing his sword off the ground and shouted, "SOLDIERS! BAYONET CHARGE!"

All the Sky Knights that were stationed behind the wall abandoned their mortar positions, pulled their rifles and/or melee weapons and ran with Jaune and Ren as they charged at the breach.

Jaune and Ren were the first to reach the army; Jaune switched back to Sword and Shield style and shattered a few Uruk spears with a shield charge, Ren slipped between some of the spears and cut them off at their staffs so that they wouldn't stick soldiers that came behind him.

There were a few unfortunate soldiers that were stabbed by the tall spears, but a majority was able to clash in close quarters with the enemy. The Vacuo Knights may not have been the most known for their combat skills, but they showed no fear in this fight, a lot of them worked in pairs, keeping each other safe while others were more on the offensive.

Jaune and Ren's main priority was to reach Nora that was currently under the water somewhere. They had to move quickly and find her before she drowned or was trampled on by either side.

* * *

Pyrrha kept trembling her hands at the sight of all the fire, but she was quickly snapped out of it when John called out to her, "Hey, you with us?"

Pyrrha shook her head, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine!" she shouted over the roars and gunfire.

John pointed down at the fighting below, "Jaune'll need you down there, get going. I got it up here."

Pyrrha nodded in understanding, she started running towards the stairways that lead down to the ground behind the wall. She more fire down at the breach, despite the water all around it, she shook her head hard, "Damn it, not now!"

Even though she was staring at the fire while running, she realized the fact that she was still moving. Most likely, she could ignore it if she had something more important to think about, like the safety of her team. Helping them was enough to allow her to move. She dropped the empty clip from her rifle and reloaded as she was running.

Pyrrha then saw that Grun was using an Uruk's shield as a bat to knock a Beowulf off of Macht. She called out to Grun, "Shield!" he quickly looked to her and knew where she was going from the direction she was heading. He then tossed the shield to her and she caught it, there she slid it out in front of her and jumped on it.

Using her polarity, she made sure her feet were planted to the shield to ensure she wouldn't fall off. As she was sliding down the stairs she stared opening fire with her rifle at some of the Uruks that were coming around behind Ren and Jaune as they were looking for Nora. Her shots were on point, each one knocking over or knocking Uruks off balance enough to fail at their attempts to hurt her friends. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she jumped high and allowed the shield to fling forward and decapitate a Warlock that was about to unleash his fire dust.

Jaune and Ren quickly found Nora and pulled her out of the water, and boy was she mad. The full team started fighting together as the Vacuo knights moved in to join the fight.

Team SSSN's two members were hurt too badly to fight, so Sage put both of them over his shoulders and started running up to the keep to get them medical help in a safer location. Having to run down the side of the wall that was the furthest to the Keep, they also had to run around the main battle at the breach that was taking place. Once Scarlet knew Sage was safe to take them on his own, he moved towards the fighting and joined in.

Grun and Macht did their best to hold off the enemy troops that were still climbing on their section of the wall. Even with the breach, they still tried to take the wall itself. Blitz was helping Leere tend to her own wound, her telling him how to set her sprain and to help her back on her feet.

John was alone when it came to hunters; he had troops around him as he ensured Turret 1 was still in the fight. But one turret alone wasn't going to keep this fight in their favor for long.

* * *

Over by the Keep, the battering ram started pounding hard against the steel doors of the main gate. It appeared the ram was made out of a harder material and tipped sharply to leave large dents in the door. Soldiers above continued shooting at the Uruks holding the hammer, but the Uruks had others shielding them overhead with their body shields.

Theoden spoke into his radio, "Hold them! Stand your ground!"

Robin meanwhile was doing his best to shoot at any major Uruks or Grimm on the field, like Warlocks, Ursa and a few Deathstalkers.

Theoden quickly realized he spoke too soon to think the army Saruman sent against them was primitive. Now it was a matter of survival instead of patience.

* * *

Weiss, Blake and Vernal stood at the center of the Entmoot, as requested by Treebeard. Once they were there he gave them their verdict on what to do, "The Ents cannot hold back this storm. We must weather such things as we have always done."

Weiss gave a confused look, "You mean just do nothing? You want to sit in your forests and do NOTHING?!"

"HOW COULD THAT BE YOUR DECISION?!" Blake practically shouted over them all. Her words almost echoed in the forest.

Treebeard squinted his eyes and lowered his head to Blake, "This is not _our_ war."

"YOU ARE A FOOL TO BELIEVE THAT!" Blake shouted again, surprising Treebeard, even Vernal. "This world needs you, now more than ever! Yes, we've almost forgotten you, but now you have a chance to show the world that you exist and that you matter just as much as Humans AND Faunus do!" Blake turned and looked to all of them, "We can't win this war on our own, no matter how much our people want to think that… you have to help us!"

Treebeard began to feel sorry for Blake, he could tell that she wasn't the kind of person to beg, and yet now here she was. Begging for the Ents to help save her people and Weiss'. "You are young and brave, Blake Belladonna… But our place in this world has been forgotten, and so it will remain because that is what nature wants."

All the other Ents started to walk off, leaving the four of them alone. Blake started to walk away, with Weiss following her. "Blake, I'm sorry."

Blake stopped and gave her a confused look, "For what?"

"That they wouldn't help us… I could tell that you really wanted for it to work out…" Weiss said in a sympathetic tone. She then put her hand on Blake's shoulder, "Who needs trees as an army anyway? We can figure this out without them."

Blake shook her head, "It isn't just about that, Weiss… The old stories about the Great War would often state that Nature chose to side with us against the True Evil. And now, with are cities, our roads, our buildings, we, as the whole of Remnant, chose to forget about nature, and it's becoming our downfall." She glanced at Treebeard briefly as he was speaking with Vernal in the distance, "It wasn't just about getting a new army, it's about finding that redemption after all the bad we did to nature over the years."

Weiss stood there, thinking it over. Blake was right; being at the head of one of the greatest companies in the four kingdoms, Weiss knew that dust mining, and other major industries, have torn down thousands of acres of trees, forests and damaged whole ecosystems. If this war was to be anything, it was to help humanity understand that all business ventures have their own consequences if they aren't careful. And now, humanity is about to pay that price.

Blake turned to see Vernal walk up to them, "I'll go with you to the nearest city. If they aren't going to help, I will."

Blake smiled a bit, "Thank you."

* * *

The battle at the breach raged on, everyone that was behind the wall was now in this fight as well. The snipers on the mountainside did what they could with picking off Uruks that were surrounding soldiers, but they were starting to run out of ammo.

Only one of the four bushmaster chain guns was still shooting; 2 and 3 were taken out in the explosion and 4 was abandoned when the area on the far side of the wall was getting overwhelmed. John was doing what he could to protect turret 1, but if the rate of these Uruks continues coming up the ladders, they'll get over run soon.

Jaune switched to Longsword mode and swung hard and wide, he hasn't been able to cut their armor but he has been hitting their weak spots enough to take some out. Pyrrha switched her weapon into a spear mode, fighting a lot like how she did when she was fighting CRDL only this time with more lethal moves.

Ren slashed and shot so quickly that Marauder's could even react in time to him getting up close and stabbing them in the throat. He even made a quick take down on a Warlock, with Nora finishing it off with a hammer to its head. Nora switched her weapon to the secondary grenade launcher mode and fired all six shots into the breach, hoping to delay more from poring though.

Grun and Macht joined in the fighting down below while Blitz takes Leere to safety to get her patched up. Grun nearly went savage on the Uruks; pouncing on some of them, slashing their throats, stabbing between the plates, even some of their dead bodies at the others to slow them down. Macht switched his knives to whips and lashed in circles like he was at the circus. Luckily some lashes made some damage to the Uruks around him, but he couldn't keep up the speed forever.

Jaune was knocked to the ground by a berserking Uruk and suddenly found his desert eagle in the gravel. He rolled over to avoid the large blade as it came down, he grabbed his pistol as he rolled past it and then shot the Uruk in the face, blowing the head up inside its helmet. "Nasty."

Pyrrha ran over to him and helped him up, "We can't keep this up, Jaune."

"I know." He regrettably agreed, their force was small compared to the force beyond the wall, and they were still poring through the breech. Overhead, Megara collected more water and placed it over the breach, she then stabbed Weiss' rapier into the water and froze it solid. It worked mostly, enemy Warlocks stared shooting fireballs and lighting strikes form their dust staffs. The ice was holding mostly, but it wont last forever.

Jaune heard his radio tap and then heard Robin speak to him, " _Arc, pull your men out of the keep! There's nothing you can do down there!_ " Jaune grit his teeth in anger at the fact that he was right.

Jaune then turned his radio to the open channel for all squad commanders and soldiers in the wall area to hear, "All troops defending the wall, fall back to the keep! There's nothing more we can do out here."

Most of the troops heard the message and started falling back. Troops running while those closer to the keep turned around and started providing cover fire for those in back.

Jaune looked up at the wall and saw John still defending the wall, "John, pull back, now!"

John tapped his ear, "Acknowledged." He then turned to the turret that he was protecting and called out to the driver, "You heard the order, soldier, get going." The turret driver followed his order and dismounted.

Down below, Nora could be seen being hauled away by Macht and Grun, both holding her by each arm. "What are you doing? Let me at 'em! Let me at 'em!"

As John was helping his soldiers leave their section of the wall, he felt a pain in his left shoulder. The pain also came with a jolt that nearly knocked him down. He looked down to see a bullet hole in his armor; he looked at the aura meter on his forearm mounted scroll show that his aura was near depleted.

John pushed past it; luckily the adrenaline in his system was keeping him from feeling it. He swung his sword hard, cutting down as many Uruks as he can, providing time for his men to back off. He even swung his sword hard enough to knock some of the ladders near his position off. Just then he felt more bullets hit him; one hit behind his left knee, one hitting his back near his heart and the other hitting his right lung.

Down below, Jaune saw John getting shot and immediately started sprinting towards the nearby stairway that led up the wall. "JOHN!" He swung his sword hard, cutting down any misfortunate Uruk that tried to get in his way.

John turned to see the Uruk sharpshooter that was shooting at him, just as it was loading another bullet, John picked up a bayonet rifle from one of his dead soldiers and through it like a spear. The rifle ran right through the Uruk like a shishkebab. That throw used up the last of his adrenaline; he fell to his knees, unable to lift his sword.

Jaune decapitated an Uruk with his long sword, just as it was charging at John while he was down. Jaune ran up to John and knelt down to keep him upright, "How bad is it?"

John tried his best to smirk as he answered, "So far so good…"

"Damn it, you're loosing a lot of blood…" Jaune noticed the blood dripping from the bullet hole. The one in his back looked to be close to where his heart would be. "I need to get you to Leere."

"I wont make it…" John coughing up a mouth full of blood, one of his lungs was already filling up.

Jaune put his hand over John's back, "I'll give you some of my aura." But before he could do it, John asked, "What's your aura level at?"

Jaune looked at his wrist, "35%."

"That's not enough for wounds like this… plus, you'll need it for this fight." John said with a very serious look.

Jaune looked him in the eye, "John, I am not letting you die!"

John put his hand on Jaune's shoulder, "You AREN'T!" He gagged a bit of blood but was able to speak again a second after, "They need you in this fight… all of you…"

Just then they both heard the ice wall Megara put up crash down under the stress of all the attacks by the Uruk Warlocks. The flood of enemy soldiers is flowing again.

John sat himself against the rampart and laid the sword across his lap, Jaune took his hand as John put both of his hands on Jaune's, "Make sure my wife, Lozen, knows I kept my promise… I died fighting for a country… just wasn't ours."

"I will…" Jaune said, as he gripped tighter on John's hand.

John then looks to his sword, "And make sure this sword gets to my brother, Thomas… he's going to need it now…"

"I promise… By my family's name." Jaune said with a crack in his voice, first Boromir and now John. How many friends does he have to lose to this war?

John smirked, "I'll hold you to that…" John's hands went limp and one of them fell out of grip of Jaune's hand. His head fell forward, lifeless.

 ** _(AN: for the record, I hate writing death scenes of good characters)_**

Jaune placed both his hands on his sword and stood up from there. He turned around to see the wave of enemy soldiers running up behind the retreating soldiers. Jaune picked up his long sword and gripped it tightly. Just then he jumped out from the wall and made motion as if he was going to stab the ground.

His sword began to glow bright, so bright it almost blinded those that saw him come down. And at the moment of impact, a blast of light shot in out, blasting dozens of Uruks away. Some that were at 'ground zero' were obliterated instantly, while others were sent flying.

Once the light died down, Jaune could be seen running out from the crater and running to the keep, with eyes of pure fury in his eyes.

* * *

As the surviving soldiers made into the keep, Megara froze the gate like before, she even froze some Uruk's feet to the stairs they were climbing on.

At the Main Gate of the Keep was being battered and broken by the battering ram the Uruks were using. The stone battering ram started buckling the steel plates on the gate, so much so that it started cracking due to the stress.

Cardin and his team moved to the gate to help the soldiers defend it. When they arrived they saw a large dent from the repeated battering on the gate.

"I thought that gate was made of steel!" Russell exclaimed.

"It is," Cardin replied, "Whatever they're using must be made of harder metal."

After about the 50th pound on the gate door, a large segments of the gate broke off on either side, big enough for a body to get through. The ram kept going, hitting a few soldiers that were unfortunate for being in its way.

Some Marauder's swords poked through the hole but were blocked by Mistral shields. Then Marksman poked their rifles through the hole and began opening fire. The shields were holding, but this phalanx wasn't going to slow them down any more than the gate.

Some of the Mistral soldiers placed their rifles over the phalanx and started shooting back. The soldiers above the gate continued their rapid barrage of bullets and dust attacks but the shield walls by the Uruks on the Causeway refuse to give in. Those in front break off from the shields and attack the gate; while those in back, holding their shields up, make sure there are more soldiers to replace them.

* * *

Theoden draws his sword, "Enough standing around. All available troops to the gate, NOW!" he turned to Robin, "Do what you can up here." His subordinate nodded as he and his personal guard made their way to the gate.

Theoden was given a shield and ran up behind the phalanx that was guarding the breech. He saw a few Uruks move in and bash the phalanx, some even knocking over soldiers that were holding it up. Theoden moved in and cut one of them down, "SHEILDS UP!"

Just then the phalanx reformed, with the King in the center, "SPEARS!" just as a few Uruks tried to body slam the phalanx they were met by spears through the throat and/or chest plate. Any that were pushing against the phalanx were pushed back and then were shot by soldiers who opened their shield to fire their rifles at them, and then reformed the phalanx.

Theoden looked at the gate from his position, the hole was small, and it could be filled up. However, the Uruks weren't going to just stand by and wait as they make repairs. They needed someone to take the heat off the door for a small amount of time.

"I need someone in my place!" Theoden ordered, as he removed himself from the front phalanx one of his personal guard took his place.

Theoden backed off and turned to find Jaune standing there, his hands covered in blood. Jaune had a look of fury in his eyes but were quickly snuffed out when he saw the diminishing defense of the gate.

"I need you to take some heat off the door." Theoden spoke with a questionable tone, not sure if Jaune was up for the task.

"How long do you need?" Jaune asked plainly.

"As long as you can give me." Theoden replied.

Cardin listened to them both; he knew a way to help. "Jaune, this way!" They both turned to a small corridor that was a few feet from the gate. There they exited to a small walkway that ran along the wall. It was originally meant to be a sniping position, but it was too exposed for anyone to be stationed there. Luckily, the Uruks were too preoccupied with the gate that they didn't even see them.

Jaune and Cardin put their backs to the walls to keep out of sight. Jaune leaned over to peak and saw the Uruks clumped up at the Gate. "Well?" Cardin asked

Jaune leaned back to him, "Remember Professor Port's exercise of 'great numbers but small setting'? It's a lot like that."

Cardin smirked, "We can do it."

Jaune gave him a look, "But it's a long jump…"

Cardin leans to see and saw he was right. He bit his lower lip and shook his head in shame, "Help me…"

Jaune turned to him, "What?"

"I'm too heavy to jump that far, you'll have to help me," he nearly yelled under his breath.

Jaune held his hand up, "Ok…" Jaune then formed his shield.

Before they started, Cardin grabbed Jaune's shoulder and lightly squeezed it, "AND… none of this will be mentioned to anyone! Got it?"

"My lips are sealed," Jaune winked.

Jaune then walked to the end of the walkway and knelt down with his shield in both his hands. Cardin then did a running start and jumped over Jaune, stepping onto his shield and jumped from there. Jaune pushed upward as hard as he could, even putting some of his aura into it.

Cardin practically flew to the causeway as he crash-landed with a blast of fire, having slammed his explosive mace down as he landed.

Jaune placed his shield on his hip but drew Joyuse, while also drawing Blake's katana, Gambol, and ran off the walkway onto the causeway. He landed in the newly opened area Cardin created with his mace and began swinging both Joyuse and Gambol as hard as he could.

Both were doing good to keep the Uruks from reaching the gate. One of the first things they did was push the Uruk's battering ram over the side, so it wouldn't be used again.

Cardin swung his mace hard and wide, blasting Uruks a few at a time off the causeway, and smashing others that got too close. Jaune had very little experience using dual wielding styles, but he remembered a few tricks his sister Carol taught him when she trained him for those two years.

Back at the main gate, Theoden ordered several men to move the leftover sheet metal plates to be placed over the hole. Some of the men started using dust crystals to flash-weld the plates together and use wooden 2x4s to act as ground anchors to keep the door closed.

* * *

Meanwhile in the main field were the bulk of the army has yet to join the fight, Alpha howled over the army's chants and gave them their next set of orders. Now that the wall was beaten, they shift their focus onto the Main Keep.

Following their commander's orders, several Uruks pushed a few large harpoon guns with spears the size of people. They aimed their harpoons at the main keep and fired two at a time; if a harpoon hit the keep it embedded itself in the concrete as the rope line that was tied to it began being tugged on. A second one was fired, it missed the building but latched onto the ramparts and gripped it's barbs in the stone.

Once the two were believed to be 'secure' enough, the Uruks began tugging on one of the ends of the rope. It could be then seen that a structure was being lifted up out of the legions of Uruks, several of which were jumping onto it as it was being raised up.

* * *

To Pyrrha's horror, she looked over the Keep's Ramparts and saw large ladders that were rising up from the army below. She and several other soldiers started opening fire on the ladder; they were able to kill several Uruks and Beowulves that were latched onto it, but their bullets weren't able to stop the ladder from landing on the side of the Keep.

Once it made contact with the Keep, the sword tips of the ladder came down and acted like grips to keep the ladder in place. Just as one landed, another made contact with the ramparts immediately after with a third one on its way.

Robin stood above a Rampart and aimed his arrow at the third ladder as it was slowly rising. He aimed for the parts of the ladder that were next to the ropes. He fired two shots, one on each side, with fire dust and blew them up, then a third one right in the middle of the first step of the ladder. The explosions cut off the lines while the third arrow's impact pushed the ladder back and landed on several Uruks.

* * *

Back at the main gate, Jaune and Cardin were holding pretty well. Jaune slashed with both blades as fast and hard as he could. To his surprise, Blake's weapon was a lot more effective than he initially realized. "This katana is awesome!" he exclaimed in a moment of excitement.

His excitement was short-lived when he saw Carding start to get overwhelmed by the Uruks. Jaune sheathed Joyuse and drew his pistol while also switching Blake's weapon to its pistol-mode, "Cardin, DROP!"

Cardin ducked down as a hale of glowing bullets mowed down dozens of Uruks before they could attack him while he was on the ground. Jaune kept firing until both guns were empty, placing his gun back on his holster and changing Gambol back to katana-mode.

Cardin got back up and ran over to Jaune, "Couldn't have lead with that?"

"Those were my last clips," Jaune replied as he pulled Joyuse out again.

Both turned back down the causeway at the hoard of Uruks that were marching back up like before, they weren't done with them yet.

* * *

Down below at the main army, Alpha looked up to see Jaune at the causeway. He began to growl at the sight of the one that killed his master, Locus. Alpha then grabbed one of tall spears from the Uruks and began running towards the causeway.

He ran as fast as his dog-like feet could run and stabbed the spear into the ground, pole-vaulting up high and towards his prey.

* * *

Jaune turned to see a large Beowulf bred Uruk Hai land on the causeway and extended its claws. "ARC!"

Alpha ran at Jaune with murderous intent, slashing and clawing at him. Jaune blocked his attacks but was starting to feel slow from fatigue. Alpha even managed to get a scratch on Jaune's left shoulder, knocking his shoulder plate off.

Meanwhile Cardin was fending off Uruks that were trying to make advances to the gate, but would appear only to try to distract him, allowing their Alpha to have his prey to himself.

Alpha jumped over Jaune and pulled out a pistol that was behind his belt. He then fired three shots, one at Jaune's exposed shoulder, one in the right thigh, and one in lower back on his right side.

Jaune was surprised the bullets even managed to pierce his skin, but then saw that his sword wasn't glowing anymore. _"Obsidian bullets…"_

Jaune turned around quickly, luckily he was able to block Alpha's claws from hitting him in the chest with both swords. He was pushing as hard as he could at Alpha, but the beast was appearing to be the stronger of the two, "We are the perfect soldiers… we are the future!"

Jaune grunted under the pressure, but was able to say one thing that proved to piss off Alpha, "Big talk for a mutant." Alpha forced Jaune to the ground and placed his paws on Jaune's chest while baring his teeth at Jaune's face.

The teeth opened and were about to 'feed', only for a needle like blade to protrude from the back of the throat and almost touch Jaune's nose. The blade was removed and Alpha fell limp on Jaune's body.

Jaune looked up to see Megara smile at him, but he groaned at her, "Get this thing off of me…"

After she helped him back up, they both saw Cardin running back towards them with the Uruks hot on his heels. Megara held her hands high and then rushed them forward, sending rain droplets at the Uruks, while also freezing them with Weiss' Myrtenaster.

The icicles that were flying towards them weren't lethal, but were enough to make them stop to shield up.

Cardin looked to Jaune and saw him bleeding, "What happened to you?"

"Got my ass kicked by a Beowulf," Jaune exclaimed with anger.

Just then, Jaune and Cardin both received a radio call from Robin, "Guys, get out of there, the gates are sealed up."

Jaune called out to Megara, "We need to go, now!"

Megara nodded in agreement; she then waved her hands below all three of them and created an updraft that lifted them all up in the air. Unbeknownst to them as they were floating up, a fourth ladder came up and took the place the third one was originally going to land.

The wind carried them all the way up to the top of the Keep and set them down a few feet away from where the fighting was taking place on the Ramparts.

* * *

The gate was more or less secure, but it could break at any moment. Theoden wiped the sweat form his forehead and looked up as he heard the soldiers above fighting for their lives against the Uruks that climbed up the new ladders. He couldn't see much, but he could tell by the sounds of men shouting in anger or screaming in pain from their enemies that it was a heavy fight up there.

With one Star Knight dead, another wounded, their soldiers at half strength at least and with only a Maiden that was a novice at best, their odds were not looking as good as before.

Theoden gripped his hands tightly as he grudgingly gave the order, "Pull everyone back…"

Russell looked to the king in confusion, "Sir?"

"Pull them back, NOW!" Theoden ordered with pain in his tone. He and his personal guard then started running towards the Main Hall.

Russell then sent an open channel radio message to all the soldiers that could hear him, "King Theoden is calling for a retreat! Fall back to the main hall, NOW!"

All the soldiers above that weren't engaging started falling back. The hunters that were still in the field were doing what they could to get as many soldiers into the Main Hall as they could.

Pyrrha was running to the gate and stood by the door, shooting at Uruks as best she could with Robin beside her. She then saw Cardin helping Jaune reach the Main Hall, she jumped down from her high rise and helped Cardin get Jaune inside.

They could hear some soldiers shout that the main gate had been broken open again, this time for good. More and more Uruks were flooding into the keep like a flood of monsters. Even without their commanding Uruk, they were still determined to fulfill his last orders: kill them all.

Once the last of the troops were inside, Nora fired several more grenades at the advancing Uruks, buying her a chance to back off and the gate to close behind her. The troops that made it in quickly began locking the door and setting several boards and planks to lock it up tight.

Theoden sat down at one of the tables in the hall and glanced at the men holding the door closed, some with their own shields. "We've fallen…" he whispered to himself.

* * *

On the other side of Mistral, in the middle of Fangorn Forest, Weiss, Blake and Vernal were traveling on Treebeard's back. He was nice enough to take them to the nearest village to Fangorn, as far as he knew, it was untouched by Saruman's war on Mistral.

"I will leave you at the southern boarder of the forest, you can make your way to the nearest village from there," Treebeard said as he continued his walk.

Weiss was still going it over in her head, _"Saruman built an army that could challenge one of the most powerful kingdoms on Remnant. He obviously got their weapons from the Black Market and built from the resources that Haven Academy had to use… but how could they have fueled such a war machine."_ She then remembered how the Uruk's armor looked, they weren't cleanly forged, but they looked like they were classily done with hammers and heat-treating. And to build that many in a short amount of time would require a lot of fire, and a whole lot of wood.

"WAIT!" Weiss exclaimed, "Stop, take us north!"

Treebeard stopped, "North?" He thought about it for a second and then realized, "But that would lead you past Haven Academy…"

Blake and Vernal looked at Weiss in confusion as she replied, "Exactly. Saruman is focused on fighting armies, not hunting people. We could slip past him and maybe link up with any villages north of Haven. He would never expect it."

Treebeard thought about it for a second, "Hmmm. Doesn't make much sense to me… but then again, you are rather small. Perhaps you're right." He started nodding, "North it is, then." Treebeard then turned around and started walking north.

Vernal leaned in towards Weiss, "The only village north of Haven is a costal town, which has nothing."

"Besides, we'll get caught if we go North," Blake exclaimed under her breath, "What are you thinking?"

" _We_ won't get caught," Weiss smirked, "Someone else _will_."

* * *

Meanwhile in the continent of Solitas, Ruby and Yang were being escorted to the city of Aletsch inside Atlas Bullheads. Ruby and Yang were cuffed to their chairs, but were able to see half the city burning from their windows.

Ruby looked to the cockpit to see Faramir standing there next to the pilot, listening to the radio chatter. They could hear things like, "Being overrun." "Sector 13 lost" among other bad news they could hear.

"Cut the feed," Faramir ordered the pilot, he didn't want to hear any more of the misery of his people right now.

Ruby could see the look of sadness and shame on his face, "I know how it feels, Commander…" She stood up from her chair while also keeping her hand close enough to the seat to not tug on the cuff. "To bare the weight of thousands on your shoulders, but still can't do anything to stop the darkness when it comes… But bringing the Ring here won't make things better. It can't save Atlas."

Faramir gripped his hands tightly, he walked over to Ruby and put his hand on her shoulder and forced her to sit back down. "We shall see, girl."

He turned around and walked back to the cockpit and closed the door behind him.

* * *

Treebeard continued his march north as Weiss had asked, he started talking about some of the funny stories he remembered to help pass the time, "And those little family of field mice that climb up sometimes, and they tickle me awfully."

It wasn't until he finished his sentence that Treebeard realized he reached a wide-open area, full of chopped up tree stumps. The large tree creature gasped at the sight.

Vernal was equally as shocked as he was at the sight, it made her feel extreme pain in her heart. Blake was just as shocked to see what was once a beautiful forest being torn down to a graveyard.

Weiss was hoping they would find this, she remembered seeing old pictures of what some of her family's mines used to look like before they stated digging. Thousands of archers cut down and mulched to make room for mining equipment, this was no different. She wasn't happy that she ended up being right, but this was something that had to be shown to someone like Treebeard.

Treebeard was in shock, "Many of these trees were my _friends_ …" They could almost hear his voice buckle under the pain he was suffering. "Creatures I had known from nut and acorn; saplings grown to full barks…"

"I grew up here…" Vernal added with a painful tone that quickly turned to anger, "and its nothing but a wasteland now…"

Weiss' heart went out to both of them, "I'm so sorry, to both of you."

"They had voices of their own," Treebeard said with almost a sob in his tone. His eyes rose up from the ravaged forest to the plain sight of the altered Haven Academy, "Saruman… He above all should _KNOW BETTER_!" Treebeard then inhaled deeply and then let out a roar that echoed for miles upon miles in all directions.

All three girls could hear the creaking of the wood in Treebeard as he gripped his finger-branches in pure rage, "There is no curse in Faunas, Entish or the tongues of Humans for this betrayal."

Weiss looked to her left as she heard roars in the distance being carried by the wind. She then saw a lot of the trees along the boarders of the forest begin to move. "The trees… they're moving?"

"Where are they going?" Blake asked in slight worry.

Treebeard hummed, "As you said before, the kingdoms cannot fight this battle on their own, so they will save this one… But _I_ have my own business with Haven Academy tonight, with a rock and stone."

All three turned around as they heard more growls and bellows behind them. They saw dozens of Ents exit the forest and walk up behind Treebeard. More than the ones they saw at the Entmoot; some appeared to be twice the size of Treebeard himself.

Blake then looked both left and right at their newly formed army of Ents and began to smile. She looked up to Weiss who simply winked at her teammate.

"Come, my friends," Treebeard said to those around him, "It is time the Ents return to this war. Even if this is likely to be our doom; may this be the Last March of the Ents."

Dozens upon dozens of Ents marched out of the forest behind Treebeard, and more continue to march out to join in this battle. They marched forward and with purpose, on an unsuspecting enemy that chose the wrong side.

* * *

 **AN: And** ** _THIS_** **is where I leave you.  
Another Star Knight has fallen in this war, as much as it pains me, I didn't want to do it, but it had to be done for the story.**

 **I hope you guys like the story so far, please leave me some positive reviews if you can and tell me what you think.**

 **As always, my friends ARKOS.**


	20. Dawn of Salvation

**Dawn of Salvation**

* * *

 **AN: This chapter will be quite an eventful one; I hope you guys enjoy it.**

 **I had this one made and posted early as a sort of present and message to say that September will not be having a chapter.  
I know, I'm sorry, but school is starting for me this week and I need to get back into the system of it.**

 **Anyway, that's not what's important right now, the story is.**

 **ENJOY!**

* * *

Four Atlas dropships landed at the main landing field in Aletsch. A wide river divided the city; one side appeared to be at war with the other. The Atlas defenders were on the north side, while the Orcs controlled the south. The fight appeared to be even on either side: while the Orcs appeared to have the numbers, the Atlas forces had better weapons to even out the difference.

With the arrival of more Sky Knight troops, General Schnee hopes it will be enough to push the enemy back out of the city. It was less than a month ago that city was theirs, now they are just fighting as hard as they can to keep the rest of the city from falling.

The hatch to Faramir's drop ship lowered to allow him and his 'guests' to exit. Ruby and Yang were cuffed while Gollum had his hands tied behind his back and a leash tied around his neck. It was obvious Gollum was having a hard time walking on his legs alone, being that he normaly walks on all fours.

Faramir walked ahead of the rest as they made their way to the forward operations base. There he found Winter Schnee commanding and coordinating troops with the holomap of the city in front of her. She looked up and smiled at the sight of her commander's return, "Commander, good to see you, although I wish they were under better circumstances."

Faramir nodded in agreement, he looked towards the holomap, "What's your status?"

"Orcs own the Southern half of the city. We destroyed the bridges to make sure they wouldn't spill over to our side too," Winter zooms the hologram at the river itself, "They overwhelmed us, the boarder defenses didn't even stand a chance."

Faramir looked at the map curiously, "I saw plenty of Grimm, large ones, on the flight in… why aren't they making a move to cross the water. Afraid to get picked off?"

"No, actually, some tried. They melted, something in the water maybe." Winter stated with an unsure tone.

"It's enchanted."

They both turned around to see Ruby and Yang standing against the wall behind Faramir. "Like at Laketown and Rivendell, that river is enchanted. Acts like acid to Grimm and Nazgul alike."

"Ruby Rose? What are you doing here?" Winter asked in complete shock.

"I found them behind enemy lines," Faramir said while he focused on the map.

"Why are they cuffed? They are allies, Faramir," Winter spoke in confusion. She looked at him and saw a look on his face she's never seen before.

He turned to her with an intimidating glare, "You will take them to my father." Winter didn't know how to respond to that order. He then added, "And tell him, 'Faramir sends a mighty gift'."

Winter's eyes widened at the realization of why he had them in cuffs. She looked to the two huntresses, "She has it? And you brought it here?"

"This is my chance, Winter," Faramir exclaimed, "I'm not wasting it!"

Before the Guards could grab them, Yang pushed them back and moved towards Faramir, not to attack him but to look him straight in the eye, "Do you REALLY want to know what happened to him?! Do you want to know WHY Boromir died?!"

Faramir turned around sharply at Yang, before any guard could punch her for advancing on their commander he was willing to humor the blonde huntress.

"The RING! The Ring drove him crazy, so much so it caused him to try to murder her!" Yang exclaimed, "He SWORE he'd protect her and the Ring almost made him kill her! THAT'S YOUR 'MIGHTY GIFT'!"

Faramir's heart sank a bit at the thought of his brother becoming the monster she described. Before he could say anything in response, they all heard a loud screech from outside. Ruby recognized that screech anywhere, "The Harpy is here…" she spoke aloud with fear in her tone.

Faramir and Winter turned to her and knew exactly who she was talking about. Winter grabbed her radio and spoke, "All troops, eyes on the sky, we have a Nazgul in the area! Bring those AA-Guns back online or we're all going to be sitting ducks!"

Faramir pulls his sniper rifle off his back and moves to the door, "The Harpy is here for the Ring… Keep them out of sight."

Winter, Ruby and Yang remained in the FOB. First thing Winter did was remove their cuffs, "If you have the Ring, it needs to go. Bringing it here will only make things worse for Atlas."

Ruby grips her wrist, the cuffs were a little too tight, "We need our weapons, and Gollum."

"Gollum is here?" Winter asked in shock, "What do you need him for?"

"Long story," Yang replied, "But he is our only chance of getting into Mordor."

Winter walked to the door and looked to the sky, it would appear Zyra isn't the only thing in the sky at the moment; dozens of Griffons and Nevermores were flying overhead. "Lets get the weapons first, follow me," she then looked to both of them, "but keep your heads down."

* * *

From the air, Helms Deep was crawling with Uruks and Grimm. The force that started as 20 thousand was swarming the keep; flooding the outside of the fortress through the front gate and the hole in the main wall. It took them a while, but they managed to bring the same battering ram they used on the front gate to the gate that was keeping them from finishing off their mission.

Inside the steel door, a handful of soldiers were doing their best to barricade the door. Some put objects in the way while also pinning heavy objects in front of it to keep it shut. All the others soldiers that weren't there were more wounded than others and needed immediate treatment.

Jaune was sitting at one of the tables in the main hall, with a full view of the soldiers trying to keep the door shut. He had his shirt off with Leere using her semblance to remove the Obsidian bullets that were embedded in his back. "Sorry if I hurt you," Leere said with a bit of hesitation.

Grun stood beside Jaune, holding one of his shoulders to keep him still, as best he could. Leere's power would have Jaune's blood flow remove the bullets by 'pushing' them out, but that would mean they have to go out the same way they came in. Once removed, his aura should heal the wounds quickly.

"Just get them out," Jaune said as he grabbed a bullet casing and bit on it as he felt the bullets as they were removed from his body. The pain didn't last, but it was intense, nonetheless.

Theoden looked in shame at the struggle of his men, "The fortress is taken… it's over."

Grun let go of Jaune and turned to the king, "You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!" He then gestures to the men at the door, "They're _still_ defending it! They're _dying_ defending it!" He then turned around and held both his hands up towards the door; he started using his gravity manipulation semblance on the door. It was holding, but he couldn't keep up this strength for too long.

Pyrrha checked out Jaune's back and was relieved to see his aura act quickly to heal most of his wounds, mostly the bullet ones. Jaune stood up and put his shirt and armor back on, he turned to Cardin as he was being treated for his wounds, "Did the pilots fill the last shuttles up with what fuel we have left?"

Cardin nodded, "Yes." Although the moment seemed hopeful, he didn't feel that it was, "But they'll never make it if all those Uruks start shooting at them the moment they fly over the fortress."

"He's right," Robin stated, "Resistant to small arms or not, an amount like the force outside would take down any aircraft."

Jaune understood the situation but he had to prepare for the opportunity, he turned to Robin, "Tell all the children and elderly to make for the shuttle's and only take off when they reach max loads, no less! Tell all captains to launch the moment we get the Uruk's attention."

"Get their attention?" Theoden asked in confusion, "What could men do against the chaos that lies beyond that door?" It was clear all over his face that he had lost all hope.

Jaune started to get a bit of a familiar feeling about the situation, "Same thing I did…" Jaune turned towards the door, "Throw some chaos back in their face… ride out there and face them head on."

Theoden remembered hearing how Jaune helped turn the tied at Beacon; there was no way the Sky Knights and the Atlas Defenders had a chance in a battle like that, but Jaune managed to bring them a victory anyway. His warrior spirit started to spark once more at the thought of Jaune doing the same here, "For death and glory…"

"For Mistral," Jaune corrected, "For your _people_." Jaune felt his left hand being held by Pyrrha's, he turned to see her give him a proud smile, which made him smile back.

"Jaune," Ren spoke out, "the sun is rising…"

Jaune's mind instantly clicked. It was the fifth day, which meant Ozpin must be close by now. "We can win this," he whispered under his breath.

"Yes…" Theoden started to gain some strength in his voice, "The men of Mistral will charge out of this fortress, one last time!"

Cardin began to smile, "Not without our rides," he motioned for his team to go with him to start bringing some of the vehicles they will need for this last ditch effort.

Theoden turned to Jaune and held his hand out, Jaune took it and they both gripped each other's forearms, "Let this be the hour, when we draw swords together, Lord Commander…"

Jaune was a bit shocked to hear a king call him that; as was Pyrrha, she had never heard anyone call Jaune that before.

Grun started to lose his grip on the door, his gravity began to weaken and the door started to loose its integrity from the ram outside. "If you guys are going to do something, NOW would be good!"

It didn't take long for enough bikes to be brought to the main hall. Everyone mounted up, with Jaune and Pyrrha on the front bike, King Theoden on his own behind them, Ren and Nora behind him and CRDL on their own bikes behind them. Behind them were about two dozen more soldiers on bikes, with dozens more still getting their bikes.

"Fell deeds, awake," Theoden spoke out.

Grun let go of the door and let it slowly get broken open on its own by the Uruks. He and his team hopped on their own bikes to join the Calvary charge.

"Now for wrath," Theoden continued to speak, "now for ruin and a RED DAWN!" With that last remark he placed his helmet on his head and all other riders started their engines.

The door broke down with one last punch from the ram, and in came several Uruks blood thirsty and angry. To their surprise they were met by dozens of soldiers on bikes revving their engines.

"FORTH EORLINGAS!" Theoden shouted like a war cry, all the soldiers behind him cheered with him as Jaune opened up the throttle and lead the charge.

Just as Jaune was about to collide with the Uruks, his wings came out from his back and folded over the front of the bike. The tips came together and pointed downward, making a sort of plow for the front wheel. When their bike hit the front line of Uruks, they punched right threw them, knocking them over like bowling pins.

All the soldiers behind them rode out right behind them, making sure they wouldn't get surrounded as they pushed their way though the fortress. As Jaune was riding, Pyrrha swung her sword and shield as hard as she could on either side of them, not in any particular manner other than keeping them away from the driver and hurting as many as possible.

As the last rider exited the door, all the hundreds of soldiers that were inside the mountain started to pour out. They used the moment of shock the Uruks received as their chance to push them back and take as many as possible in this last charge. It was all or nothing now.

The calvary charge rode all the way to the front gate and made it to the causeway, as they rode onto it they pushed off dozens upon dozens of Uruks off the sides. Just as they reached near the bottom of the causeway, Jaune was about to give the order to the civilian airship to take off.

But then something caught his eye that caused him to stop his bike and the rest of the Calvary behind him. He and everyone else looked up to find Ozpin sitting on his bike at top of a steep hill, with the glow of the sun shining behind him.

"Ozpin," Jaune said with a bit of a smile growing on his lips.

Some of the Uruks saw that Jaune was looking at something behind them and turned to see what it was, soon enough half the army was interested and looked for themselves.

At the top of the steep hill, Ozpin looked down at the army of darkness that stood before him, "Theoden King stands alone."

From behind him a man in mistral armor rode up beside him with his own bike, it was Eomer, "Not anymore." The Star Knight of Mistral drew his sword, Agoge, and held it high as he called out to his men, "Rohirrim!"

The Uruks down below then saw bikers ride up along side the two men that were alone a moment ago. They then stated forming defensive positions, waiting for their enemy to come to them.

Theoden was overjoyed to see his nephew arrive just in time to help them win the day.

Eomer motion his sword forward, "FOR MISTRAL!" he and all the soldiers charged forward, with Ozpin at the lead. As they were going down the hill, the Uruks pointed their spears forward, while some started opening fire on the charging soldiers.

Ozpin then held his cane up high and made his diamond dust shard shoot a blast up into the sky and open up the cloud cover that was blocking the sun. The light from the sun blinded many of the Uruks, causing most to shift their spears out of place in an attempt to shield their eyes. Those that were shooting stopped when they could no longer see their enemy and only see blinding light.

The Sky Knights of Mistral rode so quickly down the hill that when they collided with the Uruks, some were even knocked back as if they were hit by a tidal wave.

Jaune couldn't help but smile at the sudden arrival of allied forces, and his joy only got better when he saw dropships with Vale symbols on them start to fly in overhead. One of the dropships opened its main door, and there he saw team CFVY leaning out the open door and started providing their own fire support with the mounted turrets on the Bullheads.

Coco spoke into her radio, "All troops, drop off where you think you can do the most damage, shuttles are going to stay in the sky to provide MUCH needed fire support. Lets show the Mistral fighters how it's done!" on the radio she heard cheers and laughter in agreement with her orders.

"Vale Berserkers?" Pyrrha asked with excitement.

"Coco always did love making an entrance!" Jaune exclaimed. And with these new arrivals, all the Mistral soldiers and remaining Vacuo Knights started fighting a lot harder now. This will not be the last day of Mistral.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Haven Academy, the Ents were attacking in force. It took them seconds to overrun the outer wall and start tearing it down. Some Ents grabbed the broken parts of the wall and threw them into the Academy grounds like they were softballs.

The boulders hit the ground hard; smashing through some of the buildings the goblins had set up as armories and weapon factories. Some even exploded into oblivion form the dust crystals inside going off all at once. Other boulders rolled on the ground, crushing or knocking goblins over like bowling pins.

The Goblin workers came out from beneath the pits below to try and help defend their facility but were overwhelmed. The Ents that made their way into the academy grounds proceeded to stomp or swipe at any and all goblins they came across.

Weiss could be seen taking on a pack of goblins with only a fire poker she picked up off the ground. It was no rapier, but she was making great use with it. She blocked several goblin blades from hitting her, and then stabbed the ground. She created her 'construct glyph' and formed her Knight and Boarbatusk to join in the battle.

Weiss then saw a Deathstalker knocking over an Ent and attempting to sting it with its green stinger. Weiss charged at it with her speed glyphs and then shot ice cycles at it to get its attention. She succeeded, and now the scorpion was after her. Weiss then ordered her constructs to attack the beast as she shot more ice at it.

The Knight blocked the Stalker's stinger while the Board charged and collided with its head. The Boar bounced off the Deathstalker's head and crashed into the ground beside Weiss. Just then, the Stalker latched onto the Knight's body with its left pincer and grabbed the knight's leg with its right and pulled until the construct split in two. Weiss squinted her eyes, "Alright then…"

Weiss then mustered her strength and formed a large construct glyph behind her, out of it came a head of a King Taijitu, but this one appeared to have the head of a King Cobra instead of the usual viper head, the rare breed known as "Hydratus". Weiss then charged forward with her snake backing her up; she dodged the scorpion stinger just before it landed at her feet. She then commanded the snake to bite at the stinger and then proceed to wrap its body around the scorpion.

With the snake coiled around the stalker's exoskeleton, Weiss formed a construct glyph behind her again, this time it was the Knight's sword. She held her hand up and then made a throwing motion, causing the sword to be propelled forward and stab the Scorpion's face, killing it instantly.

"I hate bugs," Weiss spat.

Blake was fighting nearer to the Academy's tower; she and Vernal were trying to make a move for Saruman himself but were cut off by goblins. Blake fought them off with hand-to-hand combat; she dodged faster than they could land a blow on.

Just as one came at her with a sword that she thought she could use, she grabbed the wrist of the goblin that had one. She twisted the Goblin's grip and broke its wrist and caught the sword as it fell out of its hand. She then used it to slash across the Goblin's back and then move on to attack the others.

Blake grabbed a hatchet off a log and through it like she would her own weapon, hitting a Goblin in the face. She then moved in and struck down three more Goblins faster than they could block her attack. A goblin pointed a gun at her and fired, but only hit a shadow clone that was in Blake's way as she dodged the shot. She then advanced the Goblin and stabbed it in the chest.

After finishing her cutting motion, Blake could hear something snarling right behind her. She turned around quickly and saw an Ursa charge at her. Before it could pounce on her, a wooden foot came down and crushed it on the ground. Blake looked up to see Treebeard winking at her and then letting out a war cry.

Vernal put her hands on the ground, her eyes began to glow 'lightish red' as the ground began to shake a bit. Within seconds large roots and tree bark punched out from under the dirt and began thrashing around at Goblins and Grimm alike. "You tried to kill all plant life in Haven, well now it's going to try to kill you BACK!"

Using her Maiden powers, she accelerated the growth of the surviving roots from the old trees that used to be planted in the school's grounds. Now she turned them into stalks full of fury and wrath to those that cut them down before.

Down below the surface in the tunnels, more roots sprouted from the walls and ceiling and began attacking the Goblins. Some started to surround the Uruk Hai war machine factories, destroying their armories and even causing cave-ins to bury the Goblins and Uruk pups before they could join in the fight on the surface.

As the battle continued in Haven, there were several Ents that made their way to the hydro electric dam that was used to help power their war machine factories. The Ents attacked the supports that were holding the dam up from giving in to the weight of the water behind it. As the last support was ripped from the dam, the stones fell apart and released the waves.

Weiss and Blake looked to see the waves come for them and all the creatures in haven. Before they did anything, Treebeard picked up Blake and another Ent picked up Weiss while Vernal used her growth powers to form a stalk to hold her high above the newly established waterline.

"Hold on, little huntress!" Treebeard said as he held Bake high as he leaned forward against the wave to avoid being swept away by it. All other creatures of Grimm and Goblins were washed away; some were pushed into the caverns that were starting to flood, while others were washed out beyond the academy ground and into the Great Lake of Anima.

Saruman looked out in compete horror. All his work, everything he did up till this moment was being destroyed before his eyes. And all he could do was watch.

* * *

Back in Atlas, the air attack by the Grimm and Zyra continued. The Harpy attacked several gun emplacements, slashing her venomous claws at some unfortunate soldiers. Some died foaming at the mouth while others screamed in agony as the venom paralyzed them in pain. As much fun as she was having wreaking havoc to this side of the city, she was still focusing on her mission to find the ring.

 _"_ _I know it's here… I can smell it…"_ she thought to herself as she flew over the city, searching fiercely with her bird-like eyes.

Down below, Winter helped Ruby and Yang get their weapons back, now they had to find Gollum. They were moving through the city, with the echoing chaos of gunfire around them. There were dozens of soldiers shooting their rifles into the sky, trying to bring down the Nevermores and Griffins overhead.

In all of the chaos, Ruby took a wrong step and realized she was alone, Yang and Winter were gone. They only thing she could think of to find them now was to get to higher ground and see if she can narrow down where they are.

Yang and Winter stopped near a checkpoint to catch their breath, "Ruby, try to keep-" Yang turned to see her sister was gone, "Oh, come on!"

"She really is a wanderer, isn't she?" Winter asked.

"More like a trailblazer," Yang looked up at the buildings, "She'll go to higher ground, come on." Winter followed as they made their way into one of the buildings and started climbing up to the roof.

Ruby used her scope to looked from her vantage point, form there she was able to see Faramir giving commands to his soldiers. She was surprised to find that Gollum was tied up to a wall behind him. _"Guess he wanted to keep a closer eye on him than us."_

Ruby sheathed her weapon and started using her speed to jump from rooftop to rooftop, avoiding the traffic down below. After jumping the third building, she heard a 'caw' sound. She turned quickly and saw the Spring Harpy dive bomb towards her. "Crap!" Ruby cursed out loud as she started to run faster.

Ruby jumped across another building, while in mid air she pulled out Crescent Rose and turned to point her barrel at Zyra. She fired three shots at Zyra, but the Harpy moved out of the way of the shots before they could hit her.

Before Ruby landed on the next building she was tackled by the Harpy, they both tumbled on the roof top, almost falling off right after crashing. Ruby got back up, stabbed her scythe's blade into he ground and started shooting rapidly. Zyra folded her wings in front of her body as she charged the red huntress, the shots were only causing minor damage to her wings, but it was enough for her to get close and force Ruby to back off.

Ruby pulled her scythe out of the ground and swung hard, Zyra dodged the large blade and took a step back. " ** _Quite a pretty blade… won't save you though._** " Zyra charged again, this time she was knocked away by a fire blast that scorched half her face.

Ruby turned to see Yang and Winter arrive, "Ruby, next time, don't take your eyes off me when we're running together!"

All three women stood at the ready, facing down the Harpy as she slowly healed her face. " ** _Hehehe…_** " She chuckled, " ** _One huntress or three, it won't matter in the end. SALEM WILL HAVE WHAT BELONGS TO HER!_** "

All three charge the Harpy, to her enjoyment. Winter went first in a stabbing motion, Zyra caught he blade with one hand and then slashed Winter's hand with one of her venom talons. Yang quickly punched Zyra in the face, dislocating her jaw and forcing her to let go of Winter.

Luckily for Winter the venom she was hit with wasn't a fatal one, but she was quickly feeling a massive amount of pain from it. Ruby jumped up high and swung her scythe down like a saw, but only managed to hit the floor after the Harpy jumped back and took flight again.

Yang started shooting several fire shots from where she stood, swinging her fists as hard as she could and hoping one of her shots hits her target. Zyra, however, proved to be very fast in the air, so fast that she seemed untouchable.

Zyra came down fast and hard and grabbed onto Ruby, digging one of her talons into Ruby's arm, and hitting her with a neurotoxin. Zyra landed on another building with Ruby and held her close to avoid Yang trying to shoot her while she proceeded to torture her prey. "You're in WAY over your head, little huntress… you should have stayed in school!" she started to cackle with laughter but was cut short when she felt something hit her in the back.

Zyra turned around to look where the shot came from, to her shock; Faramir was pointing his sniper rifle at her. He loaded another shot, charged it with his aura and fired, the bullet flew so fast out of his gun, Zyra didn't know it was coming until it impacted her shoulder. She immediately dropped Ruby and started flying away.

" ** _Agh!_** " She grunted in pain from trying to fly with a damaged arm, " ** _You're going to pay for that, Numenor!_** " As Zyra flew away, the AA-Guns became active and started mopping up the remaining flying Grimm, some even hitting Zyra a few times until she was out of their range.

Yang used her gauntlets to boost her over to the building Ruby was on. She picked her up and carried her down to the street below, "MEDIC! MEDIC!"

A medic ran over to them and started to apply healing liquids to Ruby's wound, but Ruby appeared to be unresponsive to Yang trying to wake her up. They picked the catatonic Ruby and moved her to a more secure building; the same one Gollum was currently tied up in. Faramir stood by the entrance, in a standby position, waiting if there was anything else that was going to come for her next.

Before he realized it, Winter rushed past him and knelt right beside Ruby and Yang. She looked a lot better than she was earlier, but still in pain. She used her healing glyph on Ruby's wound, within a few seconds; Ruby woke up and began to start crying uncontrollably.

Yang tried to help sit Ruby up from where she was laying; Ruby folded her knees into her chest and wrapped her arms around them. She continued to cry as Yang and Winter looked at her in sorrow.

"What's wrong with her?" Yang said whispered to Winter. What Ruby just went through would be scary to anyone, but Yang's never known Ruby to breakdown like this.

"The venom she was injected with must be messing with her mind. Neurotoxins plus stress of the situation would turn the most levelheaded person into a nervous wreck." Winter spoke from experience; she's seen it happen a few times in her career.

Ruby sobbed as she spoke out, "I can't do this anymore, Yang… I don't belong in this mess, I never did!"

Yang knelt down and hugged on her sister, "I know, sis… This is beyond insane." Yang stood up and looked out to the street in front of her, looking at all the soldiers rushing to their ordered positions, "If anything, we don't even belong in this chaos. But we're here, because we have to be…"

Yang looked into the sky, watching the Grimm get shot out of the air and seeing Zyra retreat. "It's like some of those stories Qrow and dad used to tell us, the scary ones. They the fact that they were scary is why they mattered the most. There were times I didn't want to know the end, because how could it end well after the scary parts?"

* * *

With a glimpse of Helms Deep, we see the Uruk Hai armies run away with the sudden arrival of enemy armies and no higher leadership telling them to stay and fight.

 _"_ _How could they find joy when so many bad things happened?"_

As the Uruk army turned tail and ran, King Theoden held his sword high and shouted at the top of his lungs, "VICTORY! WE HAVE VICTORY!"

A few at a time, the allied soldiers stopped fighting their enemy and watched them flee, some even started to smile and give of sighs of relief.

 _"_ _When I asked mom, she told me, 'It's only a passing thing, this shadow.'"_

* * *

In Haven, the Goblins and Grimm are still being washed away, cleansing the once corrupted academy. This attack alone gave not only hope to the Ents, but back into Weiss and Blake on whether they could win this war or not.

 _"'_ _Even darkness must pass. A new day always comes, and when the sun shines it shines brighter than ever'."_

We then see Saruman and Slate look out at the chaos that decimated all their plans in less than an hour.

 _"_ _For a while I didn't understand what she meant, until we saw Beacon fall apart in front of us, and we lost so much so quickly: our friends, our school, our hope."_

* * *

In Atlas, the soldiers that still fight manage to find some sense of pride at the sight of sending a Nazgul packing with her tail feathers between her legs, giving them more motivation to keep fighting. Even Faramir felt more hopeful for their chances.

"But then the sun rose over Beacon again, when we took it back." Yang said as she stood up and looked out the window, with the sun shining over the damaged city, "It was only then that I realized what our parents had that kept them going, they believed in something. The same thing I still believe in now…"

Ruby was calm enough now to not be sobbing, she heard the whole thing and started to feel a bit better; Winter's healing glyphs helped in removing what was left of the venom in her system as well. "What do you believe in?"

Ruby was almost begging for the answer. Yang turned around and helped her sister stand up, brushed the dust and ruble off her cloak and then held both her shoulders, "I believe that there is still a chance to save this world, even if the odds are against us. That's something worth fighting for." Yang put her hand in her pocket, "And besides, I'm more determined to end this war than most…" She then pulls her hand out of her pocket to reveal the engagement ring Grun gave her months ago.

Ruby recognized the wolf style engravings on the ring; only Grun would use this kind of decoration. Ruby began to tear up again, this time with joy, and she embraced her sister tightly, "Oh, Yang… I am so happy for you…"

Yang began to tear up a bit herself as she hugged Ruby back. The two held on for good minute, and they felt better afterwards. Gollum looked at the two with a content look; he's never seen such devotion between two people before. The only devotion he has ever known was to the Ring, but seeing this made him feel 'warm' inside. A feeling he had almost forgotten.

Faramir walked towards them from his guard post, he had a look of clarity as he looked at the two huntresses. "I think I understand the true burden that has been placed in your care… And that I am an idiot for attempting to make it harder."

Winter stood there with a bit of a proud, yet surprised look on her face, "So you're letting them go? What about your father? And his Mighty Gift?"

Faramir looked to his general with a half smile, "It's a time of war, Star Knights don't take orders from anyone. Besides, it's not like he's going to hear about it from me, all the way out here." Winter returned his smile, as did Ruby and Yang. "Lets get you out of this city."

* * *

As the armies of Uruks flee Helms Deep, the allied armies pushed them out into the fields beyond. As they reached over a hill, they were surprised to find a forest out there. Eomer called out on all channels, "All troops, stay back, don't go near the forest!"

As the allied armies stopped, they watched the Uruks and Grimm run into the forest without delay. Once the last Uruk was out of sight, hidden behind the tree line, the allied soldiers stated to hear loud groans and loud squeals coming from the trees. Some of the trees could be seen moving, thrashing around, others were shaking and more sounds could be heard, sounds of Uruks and Grimm being killed by the dozens.

The sight of the whole thing both surprised and horrified some of the soldiers. It was clear; nature was on their side in this fight.

Once the battle had officially over, the remaining soldiers sifted though the dead. If there were any survivors in the wake of the battle, they were determined to find them and give them immediate aid. Jaune and Eomer both made their way up to the top of the wall and found John's body.

It was still sitting with his back against the rampart and the sword on his lap. Jaune knelt down and placed his hand on his fallen brother.

"Mistral will remember this, I swear," Eomer said with a soft tone, "They will know that a Star Knight of Vacuo came and honored the debt Vacuo had with Mistral, and we will never forget."

"First time I met him, he helped me save my kingdom, and now he saved yours…" Jaune said with a proud smile. He then picked up John's sword, "Freedom's Will," and held it tightly, "And now his watch has ended."

"Now his watch has ended," Eomer repeated.

Jaune turned to Eomer, "Ready the fastest shuttle we have, he's going home." Eomer nodded in agreement.

As this was happening above, down below, Nora and Macht were both standing over some of the dead bodies of Uruks. Macht appeared to be sitting on his last kill of the fight, with his Kukri sword in its skull.

Nora put her hammer over her shoulder, "Final count, 59."

"59?" Macht seemed almost impressed, "That's not bad for a little Valkyrie." He crossed his arms while leaning back and made a proud smile, "I am currently sitting on number 60."

Nora looked at the body and then swung her hammer down and crushed the skull of the Uruk, "60."

Macht gave a frown, "He's already dead!"

"He was twitching!" Nora said as she pointed at its left leg.

"He was twitching because he's got my knife _embedded_ in his _nervous system_!" he exclaimed as he moved the knife's handle and caused the creature to move as if it was a puppet.

* * *

With the overall chaos over in Haven, Saruman turned around sharply from his viewing spot and ran to the Palantir. He placed his hand on it and began calling Salem with fear all over his face. Once the signal was made he then saw her in front of him, with Rourke and Jackie in the room with her.

"Your grace! Fangorn Forest has risen up against us!" Saruman sounded both angry and scared, "I need support, please!"

Salem sat on her throne; she looked disappointed by Saruman's plea. Rourke spoke up for his queen, " ** _Correction, Lionheart, Fangorn has risen up against YOU. You knew the risks of building your army, you choose the easy way out instead of playing the game slowly and surely like the rest of us._** "

"Please," Saruman went down to his knees, "all my forces are out finishing off Mistral as we speak, surely you can spare some aid?"

Jackie started to laugh a bit, more of a giggle, " ** _Guess you should have saved some of your soldiers instead of send everything at once… dummy._** "

Saruman looked straight at Salem, "Please your grace! I'm begging for your aid."

Salem broke her silence, standing from her throne, " **Saruman, I must thank you for all the things you've done for me and my cause. I very well couldn't have made it this far into my plan without your help... but it seems your use has run its course. As well as informing me on valuable information, including about my younger brother...** "

Saruman's eyes widened at how well he played into her hands, even when he was working for her she used him in more way than simply building an army to attack a kingdom. He continued to show a frightful look on his face.

Salem continued, " **If it's any consolation, I am going to miss our talks, they were very enjoyable.** "

Saruman pleaded once more, "I beg you, your grace, don't abandon me! I have been your most faithful servant!" Unbeknownst to him, a Grimm Seer came down from the chandelier and slowly creped up behind him.

Salem lowered her head and grew a smile, she then looked him in the eye, " **And I'll make sure they remember you. After all, I couldn't have gotten this far without your help.** "

The Seer raised its bladed tentacles and lined it up with Saruman's back. The last thing he ever saw was the glowing center of the Seer's 'head'.

* * *

Meanwhile, Weiss and Blake, stood down in the flooded school, near the outer wall of the academy. The water was up to their thighs. They were both pondering on what Saruman could be doing up there by now.

"Can only imagine what's going though his head by now," Blake said with a bit of a smirk.

"I would like to think he's planning an escape," Weiss said while smiling, "anything that ends with us putting a boot to his back."

Blake chuckled as she looked down at the water level, "Hopefully we can reestablish this school some day. I'd hate to tell the locals that their academy is gone for good." Blake looked down and saw an apple floating in the water.

"That is, assuming they want it to be here, after everything that's happened," Weiss thought out loud. Weiss turned to see Blake was gone; she then turned around to see Blake walking towards the wall and saw a big wooden door.

They both reached the door and looked inside, what they found lit up both their faces. "Saruman's food stores!" Blake exclaimed as they ran into the large pantry. Inside, they found baskets of fruit, vegetables, lockers full of ingredients and a few large refrigerators full of wine and other beverages.

"No way," Blake exclaimed as she stared at the top of one of the shelves and saw two large bags of beans with a Mistral symbol on the bag. "MISTRAL COFFEE!" Blake ran into the pantry and jumped onto the shelves and looked at them closely, "There's two whole bags."

Weiss began to get excited; it had been months since she had tasted coffee, "One for each of us!" She ran up to the shelf and helped Blake lower one of the bags to the counter. Once it was set down, they opened it, "This will last us for months!" Weiss looked up to Blake with an excited grin, "Oh, should we share it with Treebeard?"

Blake initially thought it would be good, but then immediately realized the problem that might cause, "Uh… not sure that's a good idea. He's a tree, and these beans are seeds, and all…" Weiss didn't seem to understand until Blake picked up a handful of seeds and whispered, "Could be a distant relative…"

Weiss' eyes widened at how bad that would have looked, "Oh crap, you're right…" she turned to look around the counter until she found what she was looking for, which was a coffee grinder, "Lets get brewing!"

Both then started the first batch of beans and ground them down. Outside, Treebeard came to come check on them, with Vernal on his shoulder. Both sniffed the air when the aroma of freshly ground coffee beans reached them. Vernal dropped from Treebeard's shoulder the moment she knew what it was, "YOU TWO BETTER SHARE!" she then ran towards the pantry and walked inside. While Treebeard looked down at them all in complete confusion.

* * *

After giving the order to let Ruby and Yang go, Faramir also ordered that a shuttle to take them back to Draco, that way they wouldn't have to take a boat to cross the sea. The pilot had strict orders to drop them off at a safe zone and leave, while being under radio silence the whole way.

Ruby and Yang were given extra supplies for their journey; food rations, bullets and even an updated map of the area so as to avoid Grimm hotspots and known White Fang camps. The map was all the info Faramir gathered while in Draco, unfortunately the map had no info on anything beyond the Black Gate, once they were in Mordor they were on their own again.

"You can trust my pilot, he'll get you there safely…" Faramir said as he turned towards the two huntresses that entered the shuttle, along with their frog like friend.

"Thanks for the map, it'll help us a lot," Ruby said with a joyful smile.

Faramir couldn't help but smile back, he was happy to see that there were some that still found a way to smile in this time of war.

Yang crossed her arms and smirked, "Well, as long as we don't get _sidetracked_ again, we should have this mission done within the next month." Yang couldn't help but be a smartass to him, even if he was a Star Knight.

"Well, it won't be from me or my men," Faramir spat back with a smirk, "I assure you." He then gave a rather curious look at them, "How will you reach Mordor once you land? My map only shows the Black Gate as an entrance, nothing else."

Ruby gestured to Gollum as she answered, "Smeagol says there's an entrance near Minas Morgul, we were hoping to sneak through there before you caught us." Ruby didn't see, but Gollum started to lower his head and lean away.

Faramir's face went pail for a second, "Cirith Ungol…" Faramir looked down to see Gollum try to move away and grabbed him before he could run. He forced him against the wall, "Is that it's name!? Answer me!"

Gollum coughed as Faramir gripped his hand around his neck, "No! No!" Faramir seemed unconvinced and began to grip his throat tighter, "Yes!"

Faramir continued to hold Gollum as he turned to the girls, "Ruby, Cirith Ungol is _not_ a safe route. It's a cursed path that has taken the lives of numerous people who try to pass through. Troops at Minas Ithil used to call it 'no-man's land'. You can't go there!"

"It is the only way!" Gollum interjects, "Mistress Rose says we must go to Mordor, so we must try, at least!" Faramir continued to hold his grip on Gollum, making it harder for him to breath.

Ruby grabbed Faramir's arm and pulled him off of Gollum, "I know he doesn't look like the most trustworthy person, but he's helped us thus far."

Faramir stood up straight after letting go and looked to Yang, she didn't like the creature either, but she showed that she backed her sister's claim. "Ok…" He then looked to Ruby, "I don't envy your mission, but from what I've heard about you two from Winter, you two might be our best chance."

"Might be?" Yang said with a smile, "We _are_ your best chance."

Faramir smiled and nodded, "Go with the Gods, and the hopes of all our people." Yang and Ruby nodded their heads in appreciation. Faramir took one more look at Gollum, "If you betray them, I'll hunt you down myself…"

Faramir then walked down the ramp of the shuttle and held his hand up and twirled his fingers, giving the sign to the pilot to take off. The ramp of the shuttle closed and the engines powered up and began to lift the shuttle off the landing pad.

With the AA turrets online, the shuttle had a clear path East to Draco, with clear skies in front of them. Ruby and Yang sat beside each other, while Gollum sat on the opposite side, gripping tightly to his seat. It would appear that he didn't like flying, the sight of it almost made Yang chuckle, but she was stopped when Ruby elbowed her arm.

Ruby spoke out to Gollum across the shuttle, "I'm sorry they caught you like that… I didn't think they'd do that to you."

Gollum looked at Ruby, "What did mistress thinks they do, huh?"

"I thought they'd just let you go if I told you to…" Ruby said with a guilty look on her face, she then went from regret to hope as she thought about what came next, "But at least now we will be back on our journey."

Gollum didn't expect to see her look regretful about what happened, with his anger subsiding, Gollum could start to feel his grip on control was fading, and that Smeagol was starting to 'return'.

* * *

Back in Anima, the flotilla of survivors began their return trip to Mistral city. On the deck of the Royal flagship, _Sleipnir_ , Ozpin stood with Theoden, Jaune, Eomer, Grun and Cardin, looking out at the sea to the west as the sun reached the top of the sky.

Ozpin spoke out, "Salem will make sure that what happened today wont go unchallenged. Mistral might have survived this theater of war, but the War of Remnant has only reached its next chapter."

Jaune gripped his sword tightly, so many lost in such a short time, and they are nowhere near done with the war. The grip on his fist loosened when he felt a wrap around his, he turned to see Pyrrha standing beside him. He opened his hand and they interlocked fingers as they looked out to the sea again.

"The only hope we have in winning this war lie with two huntresses," Ozpin couldn't help but smile, "somewhere in wilderness."

* * *

It didn't take long for the shuttle to land at Draco, once they made landfall they disembarked and thanked their pilot for the private flight. He wished them luck and then flew back home to the war he needed to help fight.

Ruby and Yang walked through the forest, they started talking about some of the stories their parents talked about and compared them to what they were doing now. Yang then had a thought, "You think someone will ever make a song about us? Or maybe a book, or even a movie?" She chuckled at that last one.

Ruby chuckled too, "A movie? Please, I see our adventures as a TV series."

"I wonder if someone will ever say, 'Lets hear that story about Ruby and the Ring.' And they'll say 'Oh yeah! That's my all time favorite!'" They continued to walk through the forest as Yang kept going, "'Ruby was the best huntress in the world, wasn't she, mom?' 'The best to ever graduate Beacon Academy!'"

Ruby chuckled, "You're forgetting one of the best parts of the story, 'Yang Xiao Long the Strong'. If it wasn't for her, Ruby never would have made it though the journey."

Yang smirked, "You give me too much credit, Sis."

Ruby stopped and looked at her sister with a half smile, "It's not if I'm being truthful." Yang smiled back a 'thank you'.

Ruby then walked on with Yang following, "'Yang Xiao Long the Strong', sounds a bit too wordy."

"Yeah, nicknames were your thing," Ruby said as she rolled her eyes, "SO!" She turned sharply, "When were you planning on telling me?"

Yang cocked her head, "Tell you what?"

"Oh COME ON!" Ruby grabbed Yang's left hand and picked it up to point at the engagement ring, "You can't drop a bomb like that and not elaborate on it!"

Yang started to laugh, "I was going to tell you!"

"When? When we finished the mission?" Ruby exclaimed, when she saw her sister shrug her shoulders, Ruby groaned, "Jerk."

Ruby looked around and realized they were missing someone, "Smeagol?"

Yang realized it too, "Gollum? Where are you?"

They both looked around and didn't see him anywhere. He was out of sight completely. He watched them from a few yards away, hidden behind trees. He appeared to be at war with himself, hitting his head against the trees and groaning.

" **No! I am in control of US!** " Gollum hissed.

"Mistress helped us, she protected us!" Smeagol spoke out.

" **She TRICKED us! She led them to us, to be beaten, to be hurt! She is our ENEMY!** " Gollum grunted.

"Mistress saved us… she is helping us…" Smeagol laid down, resting his head into the grass, "I want to help her…"

" **She will trick you AGAIN! She doesn't care about you, she only cares about destroying the PRECIOUS!** " Gollum gripped his fingers in the dirt; " **We should kill them both and take the precious for ourselves…** "

"I don't want the precious anymore…" Smeagol spoke with a voice of clarity. "I don't need you anymore…"

" **You said that before, and look what she did to us! She BETRAYED us!** " Gollum spat back.

"You made us like this… you made me what I am…" Smeagol started to sit up a bit more and look 'tall' to Gollum, "Ruby is my friend, and I'm going to do what is right."

" **Then why do you lie to her?** " Gollum asked with a devious smile, " **The Knight was right… you are leading them to** ** _HER_** **… why haven't you warned them of** ** _her_** **yet if you don't want the precious anymore…** "

"I will warn them, when I know they can trust me…" Smeagol then sat up and started running towards the voices of the huntresses.

Once they were in sight, Smeagol called out to them, "Come on, Huntresses! Long ways to go yet!"

Both started running towards him to catch up as he started leading them through the forest. As they were walking, Ruby walked up beside him and said, "Thank you for helping us, Smeagol."

Smeagol started to smile, a real genuine smile. He had long since forgotten what it felt like to have friends, Ruby helped to revive that missing part. Whatever they were to face, Smeagol was determined to help his friends see it through to the end.

* * *

In the Dark Kingdom of Mordor, Salem sat down on her throne and looked out into the window that let her see her kingdom. She turned to her guests, Watts and Tyrian, for their reports.

Watts looked at his scroll and said, "Everything is going as you predicted, your grace."

" **Good** ," Salem said with a smile.

* * *

 **AN: And SO… that concludes the Two Towers segment of this story.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.  
Growing up, this movie was my favorite, but then I grew to love Return of the King more.**

 **Like I said at the beginning, the next chapter will be posted in October due to my first month back in school and getting back into the system of it.**

 **Have a good September and good luck in school, those of you that are still in it.**

 **Oh, I almost forgot… ARKOS!**


	21. The Great Game Continues

**The Great Game Continues**

* * *

 **AN: Hey everyone, I'M BACK!  
As I've stated before, I am now going into my career (a ****_REAL_** **job) and it takes up most of my time, (5 days out of the week) so I will write whenever I can and post whenever I can.**

 **Now, let's get back into the story, shall we?**

* * *

It had only been a day since they were dropped off by the Atlas jet, back onto the continent of Draco. Smeagol lead the girls to a cave he once stayed in when he was leaving Mordor the first time. It was small, but it was big enough for all of them to take refuge in till morning.

Smeagol was the first one to wake up, he had a nightmare. It was always the same one; the first day he was corrupted by Salem's ring, and how it drove him to kill his brother. It had been so long since anyone ever called him by his real name than the name his alternate persona called himself. But hearing Ruby call him by his name brought out a light within him that he never thought he'd feel again.

As he crawled out of the cave he looked on to the forest ahead. He took in a deep breath and then sighed with almost joy in his tone. He turned around and started shaking Ruby, "Mistress… mistress, time to go."

Ruby sat up and stretched, yawning and putting her hand on her neck, "Agh, that rock put a kinking in my neck…" she looked across the cave to her sister still asleep, "Yang, wake up." Ruby nudged her sister with her foot.

Yang groaned, "Five more minutes…" she said as she put her blanket over her face.

Ruby smirked, she stood up over Yang and quickly pulled the blanket off her body. Yang covered her eyes with her arm as the sunlight shined on them. "Ugh!"

Smeagol crawled over to Yang, "Wake up, sleepies! We must go. Yes, we must go!" He began to crawl away just as Yang started to get up.

Yang stand up and walks out of the cave with Ruby, as she watches Smeagol crawl towards the trees quickly it surprised her, "How could something so frail looking have so much energy?"

Ruby shook her head, "No clue. Might have something to do with the Ring. But that's a question I think is better left unanswered."

The two packed up their camp into their backpacks and continued their journey towards Minas Morgul, as Smeagol suggested. Ruby noticed a silver cylinder in Yang's bag as she was packing it, she noticed it had an Atlisan symbol on it, "What's that?"

Yang looked to see what she was referring to, "Oh, that? Numenor gave it to me before we took off. It's a multi-frequency beacon. That way when we're done, we can call for a pickup and not have to walk all the way home."

Ruby smirked, "Well, that'll diffidently come in handy."

As they were walking through the forest, Yang looked up at the sky and noticed how dark it was, she pulled out her scroll and saw the time of day it was. "9 am? But why is it so dark?"

Ruby noticed it too, "Mt Doom is a volcano, right? I imagine the ash clouds it lets out could do this."

Yang began to feel more nervous, "Which means, we'll have more than Grimm to deal with. Orcs don't like sunlight, and if this place is dark enough for it to be tolerable, I imagine we'll come across a few groups of them."

Ruby nodded in agreement, she then smiled as she said, "Best to just keep going and hope for the best huh?"

Yang smiled, "Qrow's favorite line in his stories."

"Now we'll have our own," Ruby smiled a bit brighter, the thought of being a seasoned huntress telling stories to children almost made her jump in excitement.

Her excitement was cut short when they felt a sudden rumbling on the ground, coming from the dark sky ahead. The rumbling quickly ended and the two were able to keep their balance for the most part.

"Best to make sure we live to _tell_ said stories," Yang said with playful tone to which Ruby agreed and they continued following Smeagol.

* * *

Less than a day after the majority of Mistral settled back into the capital and surrounding villages from Helms Deep, Jaune received a message on his scroll from Blake, " **Haven, All Clear.** "

Theoden didn't want to risk another air attack so he ordered Eomer and Jaune to organize a ground convoy to Haven. The rest of JNPR and GMBL volunteered to go along in the event it was a trap.

The drive from the capital proved to be easy, no sign of Grimm or straggler Uruks. As they were getting closer to Haven, they noticed the newly positioned trees along the dirt path. Remembering the role the trees had in the battle the day before, most of the people in the convoy felt uneasy being surrounded by sentient trees that could easily crush them in minutes.

* * *

Blake and Weiss were having coffee. Vernal chose to take a mug with her when she wanted to help the Ents break down Haven's door. Blake and Weiss set up their own little picnic on the broken segment of Haven's outer wall. They had all the food from Saruman's secret stash all laid out and were enjoying it greatly.

Blake poured more coffee into her mug, "You know what this coffee reminds me of? Our days back in the Academy."

Weiss nodded in agreement while sipping some of her own.

Blake looked at Weiss' cup, "And I also remember you always using up all the creamer."

Weiss set her mug down loudly, "It was _one_ time! I bought every new creamer since!"

"You put so much in your coffee it might as well have been hot chocolate," Blake said as she put a few drops of creamer in hers.

Before Weiss could respond to that statement, they heard the engines of the convoy approaching. It wasn't long that the trucks stopped at the wall and the occupants reached their friends.

Blake stood on top of the broken wall and called out to the soldiers, Hunters, Star Knights and King below, "Welcome, my lords and ladies, to Haven Academy!"

She then jumped down to greet them at eye level with Weiss. Nora was the first to talk, "You two jerks! After all the running and chasing we spent to save you guys, we find you two eating food and drinking coffee… _WITHOUT US_!"

Weiss and Blake were both quickly grabbed by Nora in a bear hug. Once she let go, she noticed the set-up of food behind them, "Are those… _lemon cakes?!_ "

Ren groaned, "Oh, here we go…"

The rest of JNPR and GMBL hugged on the two huntresses and were glad to see they were ok. Ozpin was proud to see two of his favorite students were doing pretty well for themselves on their own.

"Glad to see Haven is now back under our control," Ozpin stated with a proud smile, "You're doing, I take it?"

Weiss smiled, "Not just us. Treebeard has now taken over as the temporary manager of Haven Academy, until a new headmaster is appointed by Ozpin."

King Theoden smiled in hearing that now one of the sources of their problems was dealt with, it even gave him the feeling of a great weight off his shoulders. Eomer and Jaune felt the same way; one less thing to worry about in this war.

Blake motioned for them to follow, "This way, please."

They walked into the swamped Haven Academy, water as high as their knees, all the way to the central tower. There they were met by the Treebeard, "Ohh, Young Master Ozpin! I'mmmm glad you've come." He hummed with joy, or at least what sounded like joy coming from an Ent.

"Wood and water, stock and stone, I can master. But there is a wizard to manage here…" Treebeard finished with anger in his tone.

Weiss looked around, "Where's Vernal?"

"After our failed attempts to break the door, she decided to find her own way in." Treebeard stated.

Just then the two large doors that were at the base of Haven's tower opened wide. There everyone saw a less than pleased Spring Maiden look at them, "We've got a problem…"

* * *

Most of the group entered the tower and made their way to Saruman's office. They found his body laying over his desk, his body facing down with.

Blake walked up to his body and looked at the wounds on his back, "What could have done this?"

"A Seer," Grun answered, "Nasty jellyfish maggots."

"The Scouts for the Grimm," Eomer added, he'd seen them in person a few times. He's heard that they often sneak around and gain intel on their enemies, and on rare occasion, assassinate those they consider to be 'high value targets'.

"It makes sense," Everyone turned to Ozpin, he was very saddened to see his old friend dead on the desk, his blood drenching the floor. "If we had taken him alive, he might of told us valuable information."

"How much did he divulge about you to Salem?" Grun couldn't help but ask, mostly because the amount Lionheart might have known could spell trouble for the rest of them.

"Not a lot… but I'm sure there were some things he found out for himself…" Ozpin gripped his cane very tightly.

Theoden looked down at the corpse of the man that was controlling him like a puppet. He wasn't sorry he was dead, but to be butchered without a fight was an unworthy death, even for a coward.

Weiss walked towards a pedestal near the wall and found a black orb sitting on it, she looked closely into it. She could see something inside, it was emitting some kind of red glow, for a split second she could have sworn she saw a red hooded figure. She then felt a hand on her shoulder and saw it was Ozpin beside her, "Try not to stare into that too much, it'll hurt your eyes."

Ozpin grabbed a silk cloth and wrapped the orb in it. As he finished, Vernal entered the room, "You were right… it's gone."

Eomer and Jaune looked at each other with concern. Jaune looked to Ozpin, "We saved a kingdom, but now the enemy has the Relic of Knowledge…"

Ozpin shook his head, "We don't know if she has it yet."

Blake sniffed the air, "Then let's ask." She pulled Jaune's gun from his holster and shot twice into the celling, they all started to hear something moving above. Blake fire two more shots, whatever was up there must have made a bad step, because it fell through and landed in the middle of the room. It appeared to be a man in a green coat and had a rat's tail.

The man started to pick himself up but was kicked in the face and then forced to the ground by a boot on his chest. "Peter Slate," Eomer said with fire in his words, "Give me ONE good reason I shouldn't put my blade through your throat!" He began to unsheathe his sword and finish him off before he could answer.

"Eomer," Jaune called out.

Eomer put his sword back down, but he kept his foot on Slate. Ozpin walked over to the rat Faunus and looked him in the eye, "Where is the Relic?"

"Gone…" Slate answered, "I don't know where, just that Saruman sent it away. To a man named Rainart."

"Hazel Rainart?" Ozpin asked.

"Yeah," Slate exclaimed, "big guy, scars on his arms."

Eomer took his foot off of Slate, just before he could start sitting up he was kicked again, this time out cold. Everyone looked at him with a 'really?' look. He simply replied, "What? It's not like we aren't going to interrogate him later."

His words weren't wrong, even made Grun and Jaune chuckle in agreement. Getting a kick to the face was more than he deserved, and now they have a chance to gain valuable intel on Salem and her faction.

Ozpin turned around to look at Saruman's body on the desk, he walked over and put his hand over his eyes and closed them, "I want to bury him…"

"After everything… you still-?" Eomer was close to finishing his sentence but was stopped by Pyrrha grabbing his shoulder.

Ozpin cleared his throat, "As bad as his sins were, he was still my friend once." Jaune and Grun looked at each other and nodded in agreement.

* * *

The group were able to dig up a small grave near the entrance of Haven, there they placed Saruman's body and placed what was left of his staff at the head.

As they poured on the last bit of dirt and patted it down, Treebeard took a deep breath and sighed, "The filth of Saruman… is washing away."

Blake looked up to the old tree, "Will the forest recover from what Saruman tried to do?"

Treebeard began to smile under his moss filled beard, "Trees will begin to grow here again. Young trees, wild trees."

As everyone prepared to leave the school in the hands of the Ents, until a relief force would come to rebuild, Weiss couldn't help but stare at the silk covered crystal ball that Ozpin had placed in the truck. She couldn't let go of what she thought she saw, _"I could have SWORN I saw Ruby…"_

* * *

The convoy were on their way back to the capital of Mistral; as they were getting closer, they saw new aircraft flying over the city, Jaune could see that some of them had Vale symbols on the sides. "Vale ships with relief supplies," Jaune stated as he began to smile, "Things must be looking up back home."

* * *

 _"_ _Things are getting worse…"_

King Theoden, Ozpin, Eomer, Jaune, Grun, Coco and Sun were all gathered in a communications room in the royal castle. There was a projected hologram of Carolina Arc, Jaune's oldest sister and the General of the Sky Knights of Vale. She was just going over what information she could share about the status of Vale in the war. Along with her was the freelancer Huntsman, Jacob Cobalt, who was reporting from Vacuo.

Carol continued what she was saying, _"Cobalt and his team did us a favor in dealing with the army that was massing in Fornost, but all it really did was buy us a month of time."_

"How bad is it?" Ozpin asked with concern in his tone.

Carol forwarded holographic images of Vale and all of its regions, _"Vale is facing a full-scale "Border War" on all fronts. We have reports of aviary Grimm attacking the villages near the mountains, dozens of Grimm attacks in more of the southern landlocked villages and cities and we've already received word that a few villages have been either deserted or wiped out close to Mirkwood."_

Jaune lowered his head, "Damn it… I should be there, helping you deal with all of this."

Carol slightly smirked, _"While I am glad you are taking your responsibility as Supreme Commander to heart, but don't count us out just yet. I sent CFVY and the relief supplies to Mistral as more of a request."_

Theoden cocked his head, "Request for what?"

Carol looked to Jaune and then to the king, _"We ask that you send what troops you can spare to aid us. At least until we can form proper battle lines to launch counter offensives."_

"No disrespect, General, but could you ask anyone else for support?" Eomer asked, "Like Vacuo?"

 _"_ _Vacuo is dealing with their own problems right now,"_ Jacob stated bluntly, _"Mirkwood has become a problem on our end too, not to mention Radcliffe Smith himself is commanding this theater of war from his fortress of Carn Dûm. Vacuo has nothing to spare."_

Jaune then lowered his head, "And it's not like Atlas will answer the call for help either…"

Eomer looked at Jaune in confusion, "Why?"

 _"_ _Because after the Fall of Beacon and the Battle of the Five Armies, neither of our kingdom's have looked each other in the eye since."_ Carol answered, _"The only high ranking official that would answer our call would be Ironwood, but given that Atlas is on lockdown, he couldn't send any help even if he wanted to."_

All other kingdoms either too occupied or unable to help, everyone then turned their attention back to King Theoden, who was pondering over the request the General made. "Were it not for the act of good faith you made to send your troops and relief supplies to Mistral, our kingdom might be nothing more than a memory by now. I see no reason why I shouldn't do the same. I will send what resources and weapons we can, but I cannot spare any men, I'm sorry."

 _"_ _Whatever you send will help, I know it. You have my thanks, your grace."_ Carol bowed her head in respect.

"And mine as well," Jaune said as he bowed along with her in deep appreciation. After bowing, Jaune turned to his freelancer friend, "Any progress that you can share, Jacob?"

Jacob changed the hologram to show Vacuo and highlighted the boarders of Mirkwood, _"My team and I are going to be heading East to Mirkwood."_

Grun raised his eyebrows, "Carol just said Mirkwood is hitting Vale hard, why are you going in?"

 _"_ _We heard rumors that Radcliffe intends to align Raven Branwen to his side in the war,"_ Jacob states with a less than happy tone.

 _"_ _Why would Salem want Raven to side with her?"_ Carol asked in confusion.

 _"_ _Not sure, it's just a rumor right now,"_ Jacob said while shrugged his shoulders, _"But first we have to find her, best place to start looking would be to find-"_

"Radagast," Ozpin finished. Everyone turned to see him smirk a bit, "If anyone can find Branwen, it's him."

Jacob nodded in agreement, _"We're heading out tomorrow morning."_

 _"_ _Well, be careful going through Mirkwood,"_ Carol warned, _"I've been getting reports, lately, that some spider Grimm have been spotted in the same area where Radagast house is located."_

"If you're lucky, you might encounter Roodaka," Coco said with a chuckle.

Carol paused for a moment, _"Yes, Lieutenant Adel, that would sound 'lucky'…"_

Jaune, Sun, Grun and Coco all started chuckling at Carol's uneasy tone. Jacob chuckled a bit too, _"We've heard of that thing, the rumored queen of the spiders in Old Wood. Back before people called it Mirkwood."_

"Give me your scroll number and I'll send you what info I know on it," Grun stated

 _"_ _Much appreciated,"_ Jacob said with a relieved smile.

 _"_ _How is Mistral healing?"_ Carolina asked.

Eomer shifted the map over Mistral and its boarders, "With the Battle of Helms Deep over all the Uruks Saruman used to attack us have been wiped out. The remaining Grimm have scattered, and the fighting has died down a lot."

"Our kingdom is safe, thanks to the aid of both Vale and Vacuo," Theoden stated once more with great gratitude to the commanders before him. "My only regret is that it came at the price of so many." The king lowered his head. "If there is nothing more to share, I believe I have other plans for the day."

Everyone gave their own gestures that they were done with their part of the meeting. Theoden then put his hands together, "Well then, gentleman, and ladies, this meeting is adjourned."

Carol disconnected her transmission, as others in the room started to clear out. Jacob stayed on his hologram while waving at Jaune, _"Hey, Arc, can I have a moment to talk with you?"_

Jaune nodded and stayed as everyone else left. "What's up?"

 _"_ _First off, can you bring your pint-sized hammer friend here? I think she's going to want to hear this," _ He smiles with a bit of eagerness.

Jaune raised an eyebrow but then nodded as he dialed his scroll, "Hey, Nora, could you come over to the com-room?" he nods and then hangs up, "She's coming."

 _"_ _So, Helms Deep, sounds like we missed a hell of a fight,"_ Jacob stated.

Jaune nodded, "No kidding."

Before Jacob could add on to his comment, the door opened up and Nora walked in with a bit of a skip in her step, "Hey, what's going on?" She looked to the hologram and saw Jacob, "Oh, hey Jacob! How's Vacuo holding up?"

Jacob smiled, _"So far, we're holding out. After we raided a Grimm stronghold in the southern mountains, my team picked up a distress call."_ He then showed a projection of the location on the holo-map. _"We followed the signal and found a small clan of people fighting for their lives against a pack of Ursa and Creeps. We helped them clear the creatures out and saved the clan, warriors and civilians alike. Their clan leader said she was your aunt, Nora."_

Jaune's jaw almost fell to the floor, he turned to look at Nora and saw her eyes shine. "Aunt Tohru?!" She put her hands over her mouth as tears began to well at her eyes.

"You found the other Valkyries?" Jaune exclaimed with joy.

Jacob smiled, _"We were able to escort them safely to Vacuo, where they're hard at work bolstering the kingdom's defenses."_

Before Jaune knew it he felt Nora tackle hugging him with her arms and legs wrapped around him in excitement, "THANK THE GODS!" Were it not for his aura, she might have broken his ribs with her hug. She then backs away from Jaune, "I got to tell Ren!" she quickly glanced at Jacob, "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

Nora then bolted out of the room faster than Jacob could say 'you're welcome.' Jaune smiled as he looked back to Jacob, "I appreciate you doing that. She was worried for over a month about her remaining family."

Jacob smiles as he bows his head, _"With all the trouble everyone's been facing, I thought you and your team might need some good news for once."_

Jaune nodded in agreement, "Indeed. Good luck on your side of the world, Cobalt."

Jacob nods back, _"You too, Arc."_ He then cuts the transmission.

* * *

After receiving the good news from Jacob in the com room, Jaune walked with Grun along the ramparts of the main castle. "Saffron is in the city," Jaune stated.

"Oh? When did she arrive?" Grun asked with surprise. The last time he heard from her was when she moved to Argus 6 years ago, got married and had a son.

"She came in one of the many flights of relief supply ships." Jaune said with a smile, "Luckily Argus was too well protected for the Uruks and Grimm to attempt an attack."

"How old is their son now? 6?" Grun asked as he was trying to remember.

"Yeah, Adrian is 6," Jaune noted, he then chuckled, "Already talking, and just as snarky as his mom."

Grun chuckled, "Which one?"

Both then proceeded to laugh.

They both continued to walk and stopped at the side of the castle that faced the grasslands beyond, it reminded Grun of Menagerie somewhat. "I hear you went to Amazonia, what did you think?"

"It was incredible," Jaune said without hesitation, "I mean, to think there was a hidden kingdom within Menagerie. Yang said you guys went there a few years ago, right?"

"Yeah… it was interesting," Grun stated with a mono tone.

"Something happen?" Jaune asked in caution.

Grun cleared his throat, which was a que for Jaune to know this was a touchy subject, "I met the queen… it didn't go so well."

Jaune couldn't help but see that Grun's wolf ears were pointed down, "You not leave on good terms?"

"Not exactly," Grun said as he cleared his throat, "I'd rather not say."

Jaune understood if he didn't want to talk about it, "Ok… Well, if you want someone to talk to about it, try Ozpin."

"Why?" Grun asked in confusion.

"He's her brother," Jaune stated like it was common knowledge.

Grun froze in place, his ears perked up and he stood like a statue. Jaune turned around and realized the bombshell he just dropped, "Oh crap…"

Grun shook his head to remove the shock from it, "He's her BROTHER?!"

Jaune nodded nervously, "Yeah… I forgot you weren't there for that conversation…"

Grun took a deep breath, preventing himself from shouting out loud, "Ok… I need to talk to him." Grunt hen turned around and stormed off.

Jaune squinted his eyes, what could he be angry about? "Is something wrong?"

"Don't worry about it!" Grun shouted over his shoulder.

Jaune cocked his head to the right, "What did he do?"

* * *

 **(AN: The following scene was written by my partner and creator of the OC Grun Gräuel,** ** _Nightengale4698_** **.)**

Ozpin was sitting at his desk, coffee long since cooled and cane within arm's reach. His attention was completely focused on the documents before him, maps depicting terrains and reported army movements. Hours had been spent in this chair, evidenced by the dark bags under his eyes, trying to find a shred of sense or reason behind these movements. A sudden, rapid knocking at his door broke his thoughts.

He almost called out to usher them in before remembering he locked the door to not be interrupted. He gingerly stood and walked to the door, his muscles sore and his joints stiff. He undid the bolt, but as he pulled the door, it slammed open, smashing into his nose and dazing him for a moment. As his vision cleared, he was met with a fist impacting the same spot the door just struck, forcing him to step back and catch himself against his desk and knocking his papers to the floor in the process.

With eyes watering and ears ringing, he finally looked up to see his attacker. Grun stood before him, a rare snarl marring his features, unrestrained fury and hatred practically pouring from him. Shaking his head slightly, he touches a finger to his upper lip, feeling a warm liquid staining his fingertip. "You damn near broke my nose," Ozpin moaned, "What in the name of the Holy Ones made you feel this was necessary?"

Grun growled in return, "I think I'm entitled to express some anger at you, **_Uncle…._** " Ozpin froze in place, but before he could think to say anything, a sigh was heard from Grun. "I was hoping that Jaune was mistaken," he said. "And I'd have to beg forgiveness once this was over. But it's true. You are…. her brother."

Ozpin groaned, massaging his nose while his Aura repaired the damage done to it. "Yes," Ozpin finally replies. "I am your uncle."

Grun walked into the office, closing the door behind him before walking over to the liquor cabinet and grabbing an unopen bottle of Whiskey and two glasses. Setting the glasses on the desk, he opened the bottle and filled both glasses half full before handing one to Ozpin.

"Is this really a time for liquor, Grun?" Ozpin asks, amusement painting his tone.

Grun scoffed before downing the whole glass and refilling it. "After a day like today, the only reason I'm sharing it is so I don't chug the whole damn thing. Now, share some liquor with your nephew and get to the explaining part."

Ozpin shook his head, but he walks over and sits down on the other side of the desk. After taking a few tentative sips he finally asks, "Where do you want me to start?"

Grun knocked back his third glass, "When did you first learn who my mother was?"

Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"Learn? We may not be seeing each other as much anymore, but my sister and I are hardly estranged. I was there the day you were born."

Grun stared at him a moment before filling his glass completely, his hands beginning to shake. "Did you know what she planned to do with me?"

Ozpin shook his head sadly before saying, " _She_ didn't even know that she was going to send you away until the first kidnapping attempt on you." Grun froze at hearing that, he knew being a royal son might mean a target on his head, but kidnapping was the last thing he expected. "Six months old, and she wakes up one night to find someone she's known for nearly a decade trying to steal you from your crib. She killed him… all because he wanted to use you as leverage to take the throne. It haunts her to this day."

Ozpin stopped to take a sip of whiskey before continuing. "From that day until your first birthday, she or one of her guards stopped no less than a dozen kidnapping attempts. But it was the last one that was the worst... The last one was successful."

Ozpin looks to Grun and says, "Your father's sister and her husband were upset that they would get nothing simply for being your 'family', so they tricked the guard watching over you during a meeting your mother was a part of. They took you to a remote property they owned and had someone leave a message for your mother. 'You will remove every single lien and gemstone from the kingdom's coffers and bring them to us, or you will never see your son again. You have eight hours to comply, or we will assume you have no intentions of doing as we say. ' They told her some coordinates in the middle of nowhere miles from the city and told her to drop the ransom off and leave, no questions asked them they will contact her with your location."

Grun slammed another drink back before saying, "I assume she debated the pros and cons before planning some grand plan to rescue me..."

Ozpin turned to Grun, confusion clear on his face. "Planning? She flew out of the kingdom to the drop-off point faster than we could stop her. She had no intention of paying them, not because she didn't want to pay them, she wanted them dead for taking you. Were it not for her telepathic abilities she wouldn't have found you at their property. She brought you home immediately after finding you. As for the ones that took you… she never told me what happened to them. Personally, I think not knowing is for the best."

 _"_ _Huh… now I know where my temper came from…"_ Grun thought to himself. He then felt his glass start to slip from his hands before setting it on the desk, resting his head in his hands before taking in a shaking breath and asking, "What happened after that?"

Ozpin set his glass down as well before saying, "Your mother had a difficult realization, and an even harder choice the following day. If there was ever another successful kidnapping, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to save you every time." Ozpin placed his glass on the table as he put his fingers together and gripped his hands, "There was no way to lead a kingdom that way… She was a queen and she had duties to uphold, whether she liked it or not."

Ozpin sat back in his chair as he continued, "So she had to make a decision: either step down from her role as Queen or give you up so as to avoid being leveraged into betraying her Kingdom, eventually."

"Eventually?" Grun asked as he cocked his head.

Ozpin nodded his head as he elaborated, "She once admitted to me that if Salem herself had you, she wouldn't have hesitated to let her kingdom fall to save you… And I believed her."

Grun slammed his fist down onto the table and growled, "So when she was faced with choosing her flesh and blood over her authority and power, she chose to toss me out like garbage!?"

Ozpin shot to his feet, a rare moment of anger slipping out, "She didn't throw you out, DAMN IT! She did everything she could to keep you where she could watch over you!"

Grun surged up as well, red tear-filled eyes staring right back at Ozpin, "Then where was she?! I suffered for ten years in that orphanage! And another two HOMELESS before the Belladonnas took me in! Where was she these last thirty years!? "

Ozpin clenched his fist and yelled back "WE THOUGHT YOU WERE DEAD!"

Grun glared at Ozpin, shocked by the revelation but wanted to know more, so he let him to continue.

"Your mother didn't know what to do, who we could trust you with. I was having you sent to someone I trusted, at the time...Lionheart."

Grun then scoffed, "You were going to give me to Saruman?!"

"He was supposed to raise you as his own son! But on the way to him, the airship you were being transported in was attacked by Griffons. We thought it was bad luck, an errant flock that wasn't accounted for... But now that we know Lionheart's true colors, I believe he told Salem about you to have you killed." Ozpin sat back down in his chair, clenching the bridge of his nose with his right hand as he sighed.

"The ship went down near the coastal village of Kuo Kuana. We never found the wreckage, and we thought you died in the crash. It destroyed your mother…" Ozpin took the glass he set down on the table and took a big sip, "We had no reason to suspect you survived until I visited the Belladonnas 12 years after."

Grun sat back down in his chair, taking his glass in his hands and continued to listen. "For weeks I had heard about a young Wolf Faunus stealing on the streets of Menagerie to help other street children. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but I went to Menagerie and there you were…" He then started to show a warm smile across his face, Grun even noticed a tear well up in his eye before Oz wiped it off with his left thumb.

"I thought I was looking at a ghost, a reminder of my failure, my inability to protect my family. But when you ran past me, I could feel it… the same power of the Celestial Ones that I always feel from my sister, what I felt from you the day you were born... there was no doubt in my mind that it was you." Ozpin looked up to see that Grun started to tear up as Ozpin continued his story.

"Not long after that I spoke to the Belladonnas and convinced them to take you in. Once they agreed, I spoke to some of the young ones I saw you with and told them about a large house that had more food than they could ever miss and hoped it would motivate you to go there."

Grun looked up at Ozpin, disbelief and shock covering his features. "S-so you mean to tell me, that the whole reason that my parents took me in... was because of you?"

Ozpin nodded his head as he answered him, "I knew couldn't take you in myself. I could tell you were weary of humans, even such a young age. And you'd never trust a human offering to take you in from nowhere, claiming to be your long-lost Uncle. But I couldn't leave you fend for yourself. So I did what little I could to help you, I even offered to pay for any food, clothing, toys, weapons or education you could ever need. " Ozpin let out a quiet chuckle. "Kali was actually offended that I offered such a thing."

Grun could feel the first smile in days tug at his lips as he responded. "Yeah, Mom never was one to accept help when it comes to caring for her children." He shakes his head, enjoying the brief moment of nostalgia and fondness.

It was short lived, however, as Grun's mind snapped back to the matter at hand. "Then why wait this long? I worked with you for nearly a decade now. You had ample opportunity to tell me the truth."

Ozpin shook his head.

"There was never a good time, in all honesty. You can't exactly slip 'Hey, I know I've sent you on dangerous missions that could have killed you for half your life now, and you trust me with your and your teams lives, but I thought I should tell you that you're my nephew and also a Demi-God' into regular conversation."

Grun stared at him for a few moments longer before sighing and saying, "Ok... I'll give you that..."

Ozpin slowly grabbed the bottle of whiskey and refilling both their glasses. "So," he started slowly, "After learning all this, even if the circumstances weren't ideal, are you going to be ok?"

Grun stared at the second glass in Ozpin's hand before taking hold of it and setting it back on the desk, "Honestly, I don't know… Everything I ever knew about myself… it's been thrown out the window. And on top of a landmine. I'm… going to need some time alone, to get my head on straight. Get my thoughts in order."

Grun stood up, turned around and started walking out the door, but he stopped with his hand on the handle, about to pull it closed. "If you hadn't spoken to my parents on my behalf, I probably would have died on those streets, or become the kind of person I hate so much. So, if it means anything, thank you. Sincerely. I wouldn't be who I am today if you hadn't have done that, and I am grateful, truly. But, the rest of all this? All the secrets and lies? That's going to take some time to forgive… but I'm already talking about forgiving, so maybe it won't take as much time as I thought. I'll talk to you later… Uncle Oz." Grun gently closes the door as he walks out.

Ozpin stare into his glass, a smile looking back at him in the amble liquor. "Uncle Oz, huh?" He chuckles as he tosses back his drink. " I think I could get used to that name.

Grun turned a corner to find Jaune leaning against a wall, staring directly at Grun. "So," Grun huffs out, "How much of that did you hear?"

Jaune laughed at him as he said, "Enough to learn that your family drama is worse than mine."

Grun shook his head as he and Jaune start walking back outside. "Besides," Jaune said as he clapped Grun on his shoulder, "Every family has spats, even Gods, it would seem. I'll be sure not to complain about my family's quirks and problems anymore. "

Grun laughed back and said back, "Well, hopefully we don't have the knock down drag outs the Arc kids were famous for." The two keep trading jabs and laughs back and forth as they walk off.

* * *

A day after the war summit, the kingdom set up a funeral for their fallen from Helms Deep. Most of the population of Mistral gathered in the city's central park. A metal wall that stood 10 feet tall and stretched as long as a mile, it was curved into a wide crescent shape. And on the wall, there were thousands of engraved plates that were placed. Some with their rank in the plate, others were the letter 'V' before their name for 'volunteer' in the battle. There weren't just Mistral soldier's names on the wall, but also Vacuo and Vale alike. Every soldier that fought and died in that battle was honored on that wall.

Twenty feet from the wall, there was a large bowl of fire burning, illuminating the wall during the sunset time. Between the bowl and the crowd of people that came stood a podium, and their King. Theoden walked up to the microphone and spoke softly, "Here we stand to honor our fallen… and thank them for their sacrifice… so that we, the people of Mistral, can be here today to continue our great nation." Theoden kept his composure, but inside he felt a great pain that so many died to save their kingdom.

In the crowd of people, hundreds of them were holding candle sticks in their hands. Many of them were grieving families that lost their loved ones in the battle and the attacks in neighboring villages, others were friends that came to honor their fallen brethren from the many battles.

Theoden continued to speak, "As we continue to honor our fallen, Lady Weiss Schnee has offered us her voice to help us through this time of grief."

Theoden stepped down from the microphone and up came Weiss and Jaune, holding a guitar he was given for this very occasion. Weiss walked up to the microphone as someone brought up a second one to put it next to Jaune's guitar.

Weiss spoke up first, "Hello." She looked on to the crowd of thousands before her, she's long out grown stage fright, from her many years of performing in theaters around Atlas, but this was a new form of it for her. She cleared her throat, "When I was told of what happened at Helms Deep I was moved to tears over the sacrifice and resolve of the Mistrali people. It reminded me a lot of the same kind Vale suffered two years ago, so I felt it was only appropriate to sing a song Commander Arc and I composed after that painful day."

Jaune spoke into the microphone next, "This song is called 'I See Fire'… I hope it helps you find peace the same as it did for my people…"

"And mine," Weiss added.

Jaune turned his head to Eomer to the left of the podium, he was standing at the head of a seven-man rifle team. "Present arms!" The rifles were held up and pointed in the air, firing three shots.

Weiss then moved to the main microphone and began singing the opening lyrics.

 ** _Oh, misty eye of the mountain below  
Keep careful watch of my brother's souls  
And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke  
Keep watching over Remnant folk_**

Jaune then began playing his guitar in a steady rhythm. He kept the tempo as slow as Weiss' words, just as they had played a couple years back. While it wasn't a public spectacle like now, they thought it was only right to play it in public now. Weiss continued to sing.

 ** _If this is to end in fire  
Then we should all burn together  
Watch the flames climb high into the night  
calling out for the rope, sent by and we will  
watch the flames burn on and on the mountain side_**

 ** _And if we should die together  
Then we should all die together  
Raise a glass of wine for the last time  
Calling out for the rope  
Prepare as we will  
Watch the flames burn on an on the mountain side  
Desolation comes upon the sky_**

Jaune then started to sing along with Weiss, his voice may not have been perfect, but he pulled it off as a backup singer for Weiss in this song.

 ** _Now I see fire, inside the mountain  
I see fire, burning the trees  
And I see fire, hollowing souls  
And I see fire, blood in the breeze  
And I hope that you'll remember me_**

 ** _Oh, should my people fall  
Then Surly I'll do the same  
Confined in mountain halls  
We got too close to the flame  
Calling out father hold fast, and we will  
Watch the flames burn on and on the mountain side  
Desolation comes upon the sky_**

 ** _Now I see fire, inside the mountain  
I see fire, burning the trees  
And I see fire, hollowing souls  
and I see fire, blood in the breeze  
And I hope that you'll remember me_**

As they were singing, the people in the crowd formed two lines that passed the bowl of fire. They lit their candles and placed them in rows around the metal wall. The rows of candles eventually reached the podium, luckily the people making the rows made a walking path for those on the podium to get down.

Once the song was over, the crowd slowly cleared out. There were a lot of "goodbyes" and "thank you's" from the people. While others simply left the lit candle behind as their farewell. While the funeral overall was over, the king and the commanders started setting up the preparations for the party that would follow the next day.

* * *

Meanwhile in the continent of Draco, the time was midnight. Ruby and Yang were sleeping in their sleeping bags near the extinguished campfire. Smeagol slept on a rock that was higher than them, he began talking in his sleep.

"Too risky. Too risky. They're thieves. They stole it from us. Kill them. Kill them both! NO!" He yelped loud enough to wake himself up but didn't wake up the girls.

He began to crawl away from the camp and walked to the nearby river. Ruby was still sound asleep at the time, but Yang started to open her eyes as she saw him crawl away. As he crawled he came up to the water and looked down into his own reflection and saw Gollum glaring at him.

" ** _You lost your nerve! They STOLE the Precious and you're letting them live?!_** " Gollum growled.

"Ruby and Yang are our friends… they saved us from the nasty knights…" Smeagol spoke with softly and intently.

" ** _THEY got us caught! THEY put us through hell! The Precious is OURS!_** " Gollum continued to snarl and growl like a dog.

"They are my friends and I want to help them!" Smeagol said with a confident voice

" ** _You should kill them… you've done it before…_** " Gollum tries to sound malicious and eager to make that choice.

Smeagol had a brief flash image of him choking his own brother, he then put his hands on his head, "NO! NO! Not again… I will not kill for you again…"

Gollum then smiles, " ** _You won't have to. SHE can do it for us…_** "

"No… I won't let them get hurt," Smeagol backs away from the water quickly, backing away until he felt that he was up against two tall legs. He looked up to see Yang standing above him with her arms crossed.

"What are you doing?" Yang asked with a skeptical look on her face.

"Yang…" Smeagol tried to come up with something to say but was then grabbed by his arm and pulled back to camp by Yang.

He started grunting and yelping as she dragged him and then threw him onto the ground in front of Ruby, waking her up from her sleep. "What's going on?"

Yang stood on the opposite side of Smeagol and crossed her arms again, "Yeah, 'Smeagol'? What IS going on?"

Ruby always trusted Yang's judgment, so she didn't question her actions. She then looked to Smeagol as he was looking back and forth, thinking that Ruby would say something to calm her sister down.

"Well, Smeagol? If you're hiding something, we need to know it now…" Ruby said as she stood up from her sleeping bag.

"The secret way to Mordor… is dark and dangerous…" Smeagol said with guilt in his tone.

Yang rolled her eyes, "Yeah, we know that, tell us something we don't already know."

Smeagol gulped, "Once we reach Minas Morgul, we must climb up the wall on the 'Secret Stairway.' There we go into a tunnel and on the other side we will reach Mordor… But there is something in the tunnel."

Ruby knelt down to Smeagol's eye level, "What's in the tunnel?"

"Her…" Smeagol said with fear in his tone, "'Shelob', some call her. She is evil, old and always hungry. Always feeding…"

Yang walked up to him and crouched down, "What is it? A Grimm?"

"I don't know…" Smeagol said with a quaking tone, "I have never seen her…"

"Why didn't you tell us about her before?" Ruby asked with confusion.

"I didn't think you'd be mad at me if I had told you…" Smeagol said as he put his hands over his head and bundled himself into a ball on the ground.

Ruby and Yang look at each other; Ruby gave Yang a 'let's give him another chance' look, Yang rolled her eyes and groaned. "We're not _mad_ at you… just upset that you didn't tell us…"

Smeagol lifted his head from under his hands, "You're not mad?"

Ruby put her hand on his head and started to pat him softly, his skin feeling notably clammy on her hand. "No, but from now on, no secrets. Ok?"

Smeagol smiled, "No more secrets."

Ruby looked up to Yang one more time and gave her a 'Satisfied?' look, to which Yang replied with an 'Not completely' look.

The two packed themselves back into their sleeping bags, there was still time for more sleep that night, so they didn't waste them. Smeagol decided to sleep closer to them this time, rolling himself into a ball right below the girl's feet.

As Ruby and Smeagol quickly went back to sleep, Yang still felt skeptical about their little frog-friend. She gripped her hand tightly, _"He makes one wrong move, and he's done. I don't care what Ruby will say…"_

* * *

The next day, Mistral made their preparations for their victory party in the castle. Half the town was invited while the rest had parties of their own in their own homes. The main party was for many of the military commanders and it was hosted inside the main hall of the castle.

As dusk came the party began; full buffets were laid out on dozens of tables, kegs and barrels of alcohol were distributed among the guests. Soldiers began eating snack foods and drinking by the pint together. Many drinking to honor their friends, some to the victory, and others just to get drunk with their friends.

There were several being sent to one of the corners of the room where Nora was gathering up some of her huntsman friends.

Eomer helped deliver the kegs and began filling up pints for the hunters and soldiers, "No pauses. No spills."

"AND no throwing up!" Nora said as she was handed her pint. She motioned for her friends to come over, "Come on, guys! My family is safe, and I want to celebrate the only way a Valkyrie can!"

Ren stood behind her with a very nervous smile on his face, "Here we go again…"

Velvet, Coco, Cardin, Sage, Blitz and Neptune joined in on this game. As they were being handed out pints, Velvet cocked her head as she was trying to understand the rules of the game, "So it's a drinking game. Drink as much as you can without getting drunk, right?"

"More like drink as much as you can before you fall over unconscious," Robin Loxley said as he poured himself a pint, "This is 'Drunken Sailor' beer. If a gallon of this in your stomach doesn't put you to sleep, I can't think of what will."

"Last one standing wins," Nora said with a confident smile. "I've won three times!"

"And threw up afterwards, three times…" Ren added.

Ren then walked towards the middle of this little and held up a purple floral bandana he had in his pocket and raised it up, "On three. 1. 2. 3. Drink."

All the soldiers and hunters began drinking at the same time, some drinking fast while others were sipping little at a time.

Meanwhile on the other side of the party where some of the less drunk and loud soldiers were partying, Jaune walked away from the food table and looked out to see Pyrrha in front of him. He almost couldn't believe his eyes when he saw her. She was wearing a red and bronze dress with patterns of bronze Lauren Wreaths on her head and down her dress.

Pyrrha walked up to him, holding a glass of wine and spoke, "Σε εκείνο που ανήκει η καρδιά μου." **_("To the one my heart belongs to.")_** She then raises the glass to his mouth and sips the wine with a warm smile.

He then replied with, "Η καρδιά μου θα είναι πάντα δική σας." **_("My heart will always be yours.")_**

Jaune was about to move in for a kiss, but before he could get close enough, he noticed King Theoden walking up behind her. He backed away, remembering that it was his order that they were not to be together. Jaune bowed his head, "Your grace."

Pyrrha turned around to see her uncle behind her, she bowed her head as well. She turned around to look at Jaune but found him already walking away. She understood why, when her uncle labeled her as the next heir, it meant that a marriage between them would be forbidden. He felt it was best to be away from the king than to get into an argument over lineage with him.

Theoden walked up to his niece and lifted her head up from her chin as he spoke, "I am happy for you, he is a good man." He looked at her with such a proud smile, the girl he loved like a daughter was so grown up now. And he saw the same bond he had for his late wife that now exists between her and Arc.

Pyrrha's eyes met his, "You are both good men, uncle." She gave him a proud smile of her own. "Were it not for you, our people would have lost the battle."

Theoden shook his head, "No… It was not King Theoden Nikos that saved our people…" As he finished his words, he looked on to Jaune as he sat down with some of the other hunters in the rows of tables. Perhaps he was wrong to choose her to be his next heir, it was not fair to them. But then again, the family line must act as it always has, despite how the people involved feel. He shook his head at the last thought, "Don't listen to this old fool." He looked at her with a warm smile, "This party is for you, and you should be happy. Go to him."

Pyrrha looked on to Jaune and then back to her uncle, giving him a look of asking permission, he smiled and let her hand go as she walked away. She walked straight to Jaune and tapped his shoulder, she took him by his hands, while food was still in his mouth, and tugged him all the way to the dance floor area.

Once they reached the dance floor, he wiped his mouth of food and then took Pyrrha's hand and waist as they danced to a slow song. They were surrounded by dozens of other couples on the Dance floor, but Theoden could see them clear as day.

As he watched them dancing, he could how happy she was just to be in his arms. Before he noticed, Grun walked up to him and stood beside him, watching the couple dance together. "Your highness," Grun said with respect as he took a sip from his pint of beer.

"Major Gräuel," the king said with respect back.

They both watched Jaune and Pyrrha dance for about two minutes before the king broke the silence, "Speak truthfully, Major… Did I ever have a chance at stopping this?"

Grun almost choked on his beer when he heard the question, he cleared his throat as he answered, "Honestly, sir… you had 'bout as much chance as keeping a honeybee from a flower."

Theoden chuckled in understanding of how true those words were, "I was afraid of that…"

Grun looked to the king and gestured towards them, "Could have been worse." Theoden turned to him in confusion, Grun then continued, "Least the two have enough respect to pretend they aren't planning to defy you." The king nodded in agreement to the Major's words, "And that they have enough sense of duty to not throw everything away to get together anyway."

Theoden could respect that point of view, he started to feel the same way. He took a sip of his own pint, "Perhaps I should reconsider the order of lineage, hmm?"

Grun turned to him and saw that he was serious, "That is for you to decide, your highness. After all, your word is law." Grun held his pint up to the king and the two tapped their pints.

Meanwhile on the other side of the room, the drinking game is happening at a steady pace. Nora, Blitz, Velvet and Coco were holding strong and drinking hard. Neptune and Sage were the first to tap out, stopping just before they could throw up. Cardin passed out from too much drinking, luckily for him, Russel was there to make sure he didn't hit the floor too hard.

Blitz took another sip from his pint, "My family, the Sturms, have always held strong when it came to holding their liquor." His speech began to slur, "I will make my family proud," he then finishes off his pint and slams it on the ground, "GIVE ME THE NEXT ONE!"

Coco finishes her 12th pint, she already began to sway back and forth from the intense concentration of alcohol in her system, "I'm still in this…" Ren passed over her next pint and began drinking it slowly, she then dropped the pint and ran to the large empty barrel beside the table and threw up. It was for the best Eomer had the empty barrel there. In the event of anyone throwing up, they could do it there instead of doing it on the floor and ruin the party.

Ren looks to Blitz, Nora and Velvet, "Last three, let's see who wins now."

Nora downs her 13th pint, "BOOM! I'm on a roll!"

Velvet puts down her drink, "Weird… I'm feeling a small tingle in my fingers. I think it's starting to hit me…"

"Just now?" Eomer asked in surprise, "How are you not wasted yet?"

Velvet cocked her head in just as much confusion as the Commander, "Not sure. Maybe it has something to do with my animal traits?" Ren shrugged his shoulders in confusion too.

Blitz glanced at the barrel at the end of the table, "I don't know if I should be impressed by the forethought or disgusted by the fact that we are sharing a vomit barrel…" He starts drinking his next pint.

Ren nodded his head in understanding of the conundrum, "Well, let's just be happy that the barrel is there, or else the vomit of those who lost would be everywhere…"

Eomer spoke up next, "I've been to plenty of parties with the same game taking place." He then points at the barrel, "I learned my lesson of _always_ have a barrel standing by in the event of weak stomachs… always."

Blitz puts down his pint and looks at both Velvet and Nora with squinting eyes, "I've only been out drunk by one woman, ladies!" he slurs with a loud tone, trying to talk over the party, "And I married her right after, and you diffidently aren't my wife…"

Ren smirked, "You're right, Leere is nothing compared to Nora."

"What was that?" Ren turned around to find Leere giving him a very innocent smile, while giving a very scary vibe.

"Just kidding," Ren said with a nervous smile.

Leere stood beside her husband and put her hands on his shoulders, "You got this."

Nora downs another pint and then throws it on the ground with pride, but then she started to feel her balance give way, feeling the inevitable coming for her. She looked to Velvet, "I'm going down, Velvet, AVENGE ME!" she then fell off her chair and almost hit the ground behind her, but Ren caught her before her butt could hit the floor.

Blitz laughs like a drunkard after seeing Nora go down, he then looks at Velvet with confident eyes, "Won't be out drunk…" His eyes then began to get heavy as his pint fell out of his hand and he began to fall back as well. Leere caught him and pushed him back onto the table to let him rest his head.

Velvet looks around at everyone else to be sure and then she smiled, "Game over." Some of the spectators that watched the game started to cheer. Others were even seen passing lien around to those who won certain bets.

Over by the dance floor, Jaune and Pyrrha were dancing along with Sun and Blake. Both couples were dancing in parallel and enjoying the time they had with each other. Other couples were dancing on the dance floor as well, unfortunately for Weiss, her date was passed out and couldn't dance with her.

Grun saw Ozpin watching the dance floor and seeing everyone enjoying the party. Grun walked up beside him and passed him a pint of whiskey, "Uncle Oz."

"Nephew," Ozpin said with a smile as he took the pint that was offered. He continued to watch the couples dancing, seeing the people that used to be his students all grown up so quickly make him feel both good and bad. Good in the sense that they were able to find happiness in all of what was going on, and bad because they were forced to take part in this war so soon.

Grun whispered to Ozpin, under the overall noise of the party, "Any news on Ruby or Yang?"

Ozpin shook his head, "Not a word. Not even from Argus."

Grun grunted under his breath, he couldn't help but feel worried for his fiancé. It had only been six months ago, since he asked her to marry him, and now they are in the middle of a war and he couldn't be there to help her. All he can do now was wait and hope for the best, "I'm sure their ok."

Ozpin lowered his head as he asked, "How could you know that?"

Grun looked at him with the most serious face he could make to Ozpin, "Well, what does your heart tell you?"

Ozpin sees how desperately he wants to believe his own words, and he understands why. Were it his woman, he would be desperate for hope that things would work out, "Yes. Yes, they're ok…" He then put up smile to comfort his nephew as best he could.

After they were finished dancing, Pyrrha decided to go and get a drink for her and Jaune, leaving him with Blake and Sun. As she reached the drink bowl, she was met by the new Fall Maiden. "Megara."

Megara looked to Pyrrha, "Princess! Enjoying the party?"

Pyrrha smiled, "Greatly. You?"

Megara started to show a rather guilty look, "I can't… I feel like I didn't do enough back in the battle…"

"What are you talking about? You did a lot." Pyrrha said as she put her hand on her shoulder, "Were it not for you, Jaune never would have gotten off that causeway alive."

"But I did nothing after that… I was too scared to keep fighting," Megara continued to lower her head, "I wasn't a fighter before I got the power… I was a farmhand." She turned her gaze to Pyrrha, "Maybe if I had been a huntress before, I could have the same bravery you did. Maybe I could have saved more people…"

Pyrrha shook her head, "Don't think like that. You did EVERYTHING that you could with what you had. And that didn't take being a huntress to be brave. Even the bravest people are afraid from time to time."

Megara nodded in understanding, she then remembered a question that's been lingering in her mind for a long time. Now didn't seem like a bad time to ask, "Were you afraid at Beacon? When you faced off against the Glass Queen."

Pyrrha hadn't thought about that time in weeks, with all that had been going on, it hadn't crossed her mind. But that didn't mean she didn't remember it vividly, with every last detail, "I was terrified… but I faced her anyway."

Megara smiled, "I hope I can be just as brave, some day." She then hugged Pyrrha, which caught her by surprise. She then let go and glanced at Jaune in the distance, "So, have you two… done it yet?"

Pyrrha's face then got as red as her hair as she nervously smiled, "I don't think that's any of your concern…"

"I know it isn't," Megara said with her hands up in apology, "But after everything that's happened… maybe you two deserve one night to yourselves." She then picked up her drink and walked away from the table.

Pyrrha turned her gaze to her boyfriend in the distance and spoke out loud, "Yes… we do…" She then slammed the whole glass of wine and started walking towards Jaune with a purpose. She reached him and grabbed his left hand, "Come with me." Before he could ask 'why', she was tugging on him to follow. Blake and Sun waved them off as they were leaving party.

* * *

After making their way to the main castle of Mistral, Pyrrha took Jaune to her old room in the castle. She pulled him in and closed the door behind them, locking it too. She then turned around and kissed him with a very powerful and passionate kiss. She began pushing him backwards, causing him to step back until his legs touched the foot of her bed.

She backed up from him for a second and unhooked the top of her dress from behind her neck, revealing herself to him. Before he could even respond she pushed him onto the bed, she then jumped on top of him and proceeded to kiss him passionately.

* * *

By midnight the party was over, everyone had either gone to home to their own beds or fell asleep in the main party area with all the other people that were too drunk to leave on their own.

As Pyrrha falls deeper into her sleep, she quietly enjoys the warmth she could feel from Jaune's chest on her shoulder. In this moment, nothing could make her happier than being by his side, wrapped in his arms. However, Pyrrha felt a sudden and painful jolt in her chest as her body warmed up even more.

Her eyes sprung open to see Cinder in front of her, bow in hand and standing as though she just fired an arrow. Pyrrha looked down to see the black arrow protruding from her chest. She felt the same burning feeling in her chest as she did the first time.

Cinder cocked her head to the right, "Huh, for a second there, you didn't look fully awake." She lowered her weapon and began walking towards Pyrrha with pride in her step. "I've heard once that people who are on the verge of death imagine, or even dream, of a whole different life. Their mind tries to escape the inevitability just before it happens. Whatever dream you had, I hope it was good." She began to smile deviously as she brushed her fingers across Pyrrha's cheek.

Pyrrha tried to speak but blood reached the back of her throat and spilled out of her mouth. Her hands weren't moving, she tried to scream but the only sound that came out was her gargling voice under the pool of blood in her mouth.

Cinder raises her hand from Pyrrha's cheek to her forehead, "It's too bad, really… Here I thought the Invincible Girl would have put up a better fight than that. Can't always get what you want, am I right?"

Pyrrha looked up at Cinder's eye and saw a firey mask form around it, and then she saw Cinder's hand begin to glow as well. Pyrrha felt her body get extremely hot and she shut her eyes in pain. Just as she opened them again, she was staring at the ceiling of her room.

She sat up quickly and clutched her hand to her chest, brushing her hand over her scar, feeling the newer skin where the arrow had pierced her. She then turned to her right to look at Jaune, but he wasn't there. _"Where's-?!"_ she turned to her left and saw Jaune staring out the window, wearing only his boxer-briefs.

Pyrrha started to stand up, while wrapping the tope blanket around herself as she walked towards Jaune. She found him staring at the view of the city, under the light of a full moon. His face was that of calm but vigilant, almost as if he was mentally prepared, of what, she had no idea. "Couldn't' sleep?"

Pyrrha lowered her head, "No, you?" She could feel the tension radiating off him like heat from a fire.

"Not a wink…" He said with bitterness in his tone. He closed his eyes as he sighed, "It's almost 'routine' at this point… at least once a month, I dream of her standing over me…" Jaune put his hand over his chest, resting it on his own scar, "With her molten glass spike jabbed through my chest… her demented smile, her fury in her eyes…"

Pyrrha stood beside him, keeping her left hand on the blanket while putting her right over his shoulder, "I've had one of those, always of that night… at Beacon."

Pyrrha was going to say more but was caught off guard when Jaune turned towards her and hugged her without a word. At first, she was surprised, but then she wrapped her arms around him as well. He buried his face into her neck, and then spoke, "I'm sorry… it's just… there were so many close calls at Helm's Deep that I thought I was going to die, that you were going to die… again." He slowly let go, he continued as he looked her in the eye, "There are times I just need a reminder that you're real…"

Pyrrha smiled in understanding, she put her hand at the back of his neck and pulled his head down to hers, resting their foreheads together. "There are times I need a reminder that _this_ is real…" she pulls away and looks down at her scar, "It's been five years, almost to the day, since then… and there are times I can still feel that arrow… It never truly healed, did it?"

Jaune looked down to his own and then back at her, "My dad used to say, 'Scars are lessons, learn from them before you have too many." She began to laugh a bit, understanding the wisdom behind those words. They hugged once more, this time softer and more loving.

* * *

Weiss and Blake shared a room in the castle, sleeping in twin beds across each other. They both felt a bit of nostalgia as their bed placement reminded them of where they slept in their Academy days. While Blake was fast asleep, Weiss kept tossing and turning, not able to sleep at all.

What she saw in that black orb is still running through her head now, _"I know that thing could tell me where Ruby is… According to the legends, it can show people any place on the planet. It's why Saruman was able to track us through Vale. I'm sure it can help us find her…"_

Weiss got up from her bed and slipped on the slippers she was given. As she passed by Blake's bed, she heard a voice whisper, "What are you doing?"

Weiss stopped and then slowly turned to find Blake sitting up in her bed. Evidently her ears were able to catch the sounds of Weiss getting out of bed. She sighed, "I have an idea on how to find Ruby, and I am going to try."

Before Blake could ask, Weiss had already opened the door and walked out of the room. Blake quickly got out of her bed, put on her own slippers and went after her teammate.

The two walked until they reached Ozpin's assigned room and quietly opened the door. Weiss tip towed towards jacket and saw that it was wrapped around the black orb. She grabbed the Orb and carried it out of the room as quietly as possible. Weiss brought the orb to the main hall of the castle, there was nobody in the area, so they placed the orb on the ground and removed Ozpin's jacket from it.

"What exactly are you going to do?" Blake tried not to sound like she was criticizing Weiss's decision, but she was genuinely curious as to what Weiss was planning, "Do you even know how to use it?"

Weiss put her hands on the orb, she brushed her fingers across its spherical shape, trying to find a sort of grip onto it. "How did he ever do this?" She whispered under her breath.

For a few seconds, she didn't see anything in the orb. She looked closely at its center and stared at the core of the glass sphere and saw what almost looked like a small twinkle of light. "Please… help me find Ruby… show me something…" she whispered again.

Before she could even react, Weiss' hand was fully on the orb; she had only the fingers of her right hand on it but then she felt something pull her whole hand onto its surface.

* * *

Weiss panicked and tried to pull her hand off it but couldn't remove it, and the next thing she knew she was no longer sitting in the middle of the hallway in the castle.

She looked towards where Blake was sitting beside her but she wasn't there anymore. She looked down and found that she was standing on a silver colored surface. It appeared to be moving like water, rippling every time she moved her hands or feet on the ground. Just then she heard voices in the distance, they sounded unfamiliar to her.

" ** _Those Hunters are proving to be more trouble than I first anticipated._** " A man said with an annoyed tone.

" ** _How so?_** " asked another man, this one sounded much larger.

The first one began elaborating, " ** _First they ousted my strike force at Fornost, delaying our Vale campaign; then they managed to save that worthless Sky Knight captain, and now they saved the remains of the Valkyrie clan and convinced them to join Vacuo against me and my forces._** "

A woman began laughing, " ** _You've proven to be very good at royally screwing up, Smith._** " When Weiss heard her voice speak, she instantly remembered hearing it at Weathertop, months ago.

 _"_ _The Winter Witch,"_ Weiss almost screamed in her head. Weiss could even hear the Summer Banshee chuckling at the witch's joke, like a child.

" ** _Those victories are nothing more than road blocks,_** " Radcliffe Smith exclaimed in his defense, " ** _and in the grand scheme of things, I'm still holding the winning hand._** "

Weiss looked to where the voices were coming from and realized a long table was set up between her and them, which explains why they didn't see her. She began crawling towards them, trying her best not to make a sound but found that she couldn't go beyond where the silver ended. She looked down and saw that she was crawling in a mercury pool, she looked at her hands and body and saw that her whole body was mercury, _"Wait a minute… I'm not in Mistral anymore… I'm in Barad Dur!"_ she almost screamed inside her brain.

Weiss' mental screaming was cut short when she heard the Nazgul continue speaking, " ** _I've never been much of a card player, is that good?_** " the banshee asked the witch.

" ** _It's a decent gamble at best,_** " the witch replied with a less than convinced tone.

The other knight spoke up, " ** _Tall talk from those that failed their own mission. All you had to do was retrieve the ring, it was one simple job!_** "

Before either of the female Nazgul could respond, they all stopped when a new voice overwhelmed them, " **That's enough bickering."**

Weiss almost trembled at the sound of the new voice, she may not have ever heard it before, but she could guess who it belonged to just by the reaction of the others. _"Salem…"_

" **What happened, happened,** " she stated with a stern voice, with a bit of disappointment. " **All we can do now is improve on our setbacks. Some of which have given us some advantages.** "

" ** _That being?_** " Rourke asked.

" **That being… with Mistral now safe, and its resources at the half way mark, Theoden will not be sending military support to anyone for a long while.** " Salem sounded confident, " **After Vale arrived to help, I'm sure they'll offer** ** _some_** **support but Theoden won't be sending them any armies. Neither to Vacuo. And Atlas, he won't even lift a finger to help a country that abandoned them.** "

" ** _But we still lost Saruman…_** " Jackie felt confused, " ** _wouldn't this be a loss?_** "

Radcliffe began chuckling, " ** _Saruman was a coward, through and through. He may have brought Mistral to its knees but that all he was good for._** "

" ** _His army will make a good addition to our ranks._** " Rourke stated, he then started counting with his fingers, " ** _He delivered us only have 50 thousand; I'm not entirely convinced that'll last us the whole war._** "

" ** _It won't have to,_** " Radcliffe replied, " ** _I've already begun my own Uruk Hai factory in Carn Dum. We may not reach the same amount in production as Saruman, but it will make the difference in the end._** "

Salem turned to the knight, " **Radcliffe, I want you to send word to Roodaka of the Spiderlings. Tell her that Mirkwood must be under my influence within a fortnight.** "

Radcliffe bows his head, " ** _It will be done."_**

Salem then looked to Rourke, " **I want you to continue with your plans in Atlas. That kingdom must be the** ** _first_** **to fall.** "

Rourke smiled, " ** _Consider it conquered, my queen. They've already lost, they just don't know it yet._** "

Jackie rolled her neck, acting like an impatient child. As she rolled her head towards the mercury pool, she noticed that the liquid was rippling. She squinted her eyes and cocked her head to the side, she slowly walked towards the main conference table that was between them and the pool and walked around it.

Salem continued giving orders, " **Jadis, I want you to make haste to Stone's Throw. I want you to secure my family's long-lost heirloom.** "

" ** _I will,_** " Jadis said with pride in her voice and determination on her face.

Jackie jumped on top of the table and look down on the silver girl behind the chairs, " ** _Peekaboo! I SEE YOU!_** "

Weiss jumped back from her hiding spot and stared in fear of the Nazgul standing above her. All the others heard Weiss yelp in fear and walked around the table to see the intruder.

" ** _Well, well, well…_** " Radcliffe chuckled, " ** _I must say, I didn't see this coming._** "

Salem slowly began walking towards Weiss, stepping into the mercury pool without any hesitation. " **Hmmm…** " She knelt down and put her fingers on her chin as she examined Weiss. " **If I were to guess, you're using the Palantir Saruman had at Haven.** "

Weiss didn't say a word. All she could do was stare into the deep blackness in the Grimm-Queen's eyes.

Jackie jumped into the pool, splashing some of the mercury onto Salem's kimono but not too much to anger her, " ** _Is it just me or is she frozen solid?_** "

" ** _She's just in shock,_** " Rourke said with amusement.

Salem moved her to Weiss' cheek and brushed her fingers across the mercury that made up Weiss' face. " **I feel like I know your face… I've seen it before, somewhere.** "

Rourke snapped his fingers, " ** _I got it! She's Weiss Schnee; only a Schnee would be so bold as to intrude in our meeting._** "

" **Oh, yes. I remember now,** " Salem nodded in agreement, " **She was a member of the team that had the Ring.** " Salem then removed her hand from Weiss' cheek and then grabbed her face, " **Where is my Ring?** "

Weiss remained silent, aside from grunting from the pain of Salem gripping her face. Salem then relaxed her face to show that she was out of patience, " **If you won't talk to me… then you don't need a** ** _mouth_** **!** "

Weiss could then feel her lips being fused together, she tried to pull her face out of Salem's grip but felt a hand with claws grip her left shoulder. She looked up to see Jackie look at her with a very wide, razor sharp teeth, grin. " ** _This is going to be good!_** "

Salem then placed her left hand on Weiss' chest and made it glow. Weiss began to scream in both pain and fear as loud as she could, but her voice was muffled due to her mouth being gone. She felt as though her insides were being burned form the inside out.

Salem then formed a red glyph form the palm of her other hand, with a red eye in the center, " **I'll just have to take the information I want.** " She then moved her hand towards Weiss' forehead but was interrupted by the mercury that made up her body drop to the ground as if someone dropped a bucket of water.

All of the Nazgul were in complete confusion as to what happened, but Salem knew exactly what happened. " **DAMN IT!** "

* * *

 _(60 seconds ago)_

Blake had been watching Weiss' body the whole time since she had her whole hand touch the Palantir. Her face showed signs of fear and confusion, Blake couldn't make heads or tails as to what was happening. She had tried to talk to Weiss a minute ago, but she wouldn't respond, she wasn't sure if she could even hear her in her current state.

Suddenly Weiss' arm tensed up and she arched backwards, the orb appeared to still be in her hand. "Weiss!" Blake exclaimed in fear for her friend.

Weiss continued to arch back and exclaim sounds of pain, she looked like she was in great pain but couldn't scream.

"Help! PLEASE! SOMEONE HELP!" Blake shouted down the hall as loud as she could.

Within a few seconds one of the doors flung open and Ozpin came out, a few doors down Grun came out. Both ran down the hall towards Blake and Weiss and saw that the Palantir almost looked like it was on fire.

Jaune and Pyrrha came running form the opposite end of the hall, Jaune in only his pants and Pyrrha in a nightgown. Jaune reached for the orb, "Get her hand off it!"

Ozpin grabbed his wrist, "No! If you touch it, you'll be effected by the spell too!" He then looked to Grun, "Use your semblance to take it away, but don't touch it."

Grun put both his hands on either side of the orb and formed a gravity field around it, he then began pulling. The orb started to tug on Weiss' hand and pull her along with it, Blake and Pyrrha quickly reacted and grabbed Weiss' shoulders to pull her back. Grun pulled as hard as he could without dislocating Weiss' shoulder, Ozpin placed his hand over Weiss' and formed a green barrier around it.

"Jaune, put your hand on mine and boost my spell," Ozpin ordered. Jaune followed the order and put his hand over Ozpin's and put his aura into the spell. Within seconds the orb went black and Weiss' hand came off.

Blake and Pyrrha were able to hold Weiss up and not drop her once the orb was removed, unfortunately for Grun, the orb almost flew at him after pulling so hard. He was able to dodge it and catch with his semblance before it could hit the ground.

Ozpin quickly turned to Weiss, "I told you not to touch it!" He instantly stopped yelling when he realized that Weiss was unconscious. He moved to her and put his hand in hers and began forming a green glow in her palm, he could feel burns in her hand from the orb.

Within seconds she quickly began crying in Blake's arms, she opened her eyes to see that she was surrounded by her friends. She put her hands to her mouth, making sure it was still there. She looked up to Blake and hugged her tightly, Blake returned the hug with just as much fear as she had.

Everyone quickly started to relax, Grun sitting with his back to the wall, Jaune putting his hands on the back of his head while exhaling sharply, and Pyrrha letting out a sigh of relief. "Does someone mind telling me what the hell happened?" Jaune asked.

Weiss let go of Blake and sat on her knees, "I thought I could use the orb to find Ruby… I found Salem instead…"

Ozpin and Grun turned their heads to Weiss sharply, "You what?" Grun exclaimed.

"What did you see?" Ozpin asked.

Weiss raised her right hand up and saw the burn marks on her palm, "I heard Salem talking to her followers about their plans… And then I… I saw her."

Ozpin knelt down to her, "What did you say to her?"

"I didn't… I didn't speak at all, and then she tortured me…" Weiss then put her hands to her elbows, as if to get warm as she continues to shake. Blake put her arm over Weiss' shoulder as Pyrrha did the same on the opposite side. They didn't know how to comfort her after what just happened, but all they could do was be there for her in this moment.

Ozpin, Jaune and Grun all shared a look of concern all over their faces. Whatever Weiss heard in that meeting could help them in the war; but right now, all they can think about is helping Weiss recover for the time being.

* * *

 **AN: I don't know about any of you, but this was a chapter well worth the wait.  
Leave a review and keep it positive, please.**

 **The next chapter will come as soon as it is ready.**

 **As always, everyone, ARKOS!**


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